BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

I was out in Celbridge the other day and decided to check out the new routes there for the craic. Yes I had time on my hands!

I was out by Oakleigh if anyone knows it, so going to Hazelhatch station was fine once I timed the L59, bit of a gap in timing but however. The bus back seems to be random, and certainly doesn't meet the commuter train times much AFAICS, but I'm only an amateur at this bus connects lark. Great service to Grand Canal Dock though for sure with the bus connection from Oakleigh/Maynooth.

One thing I couldn't figure out though was why there is no circular route in Celbridge. What I mean is a route that serves Maynooth and the Clane/Shackleton roads into the town and out the other side by Tesco and back again. That bus route could connect with W61 also coming from Maynooth via Salesians to Hazelhatch, AND the C4 into the city.

As it is, to get to the city I would have to get the L59 to English Row, get off, walk up the street, cross over and get the C4, and their timings do not appear to match much!

I don't live out there, so forgive me if I am missing something obvious. Seems like a bit of a trek if you live Clane Road direction. Is it?

I'd imagine the O route will be running before the E-spine is launched. This seems to be a Finglas area councillor so is only mentioning changes for their constituents.

The southern part of the 46a will still be there under the E2 south of the Liffey.

I thought that 80 is to terminate at Ballinteer. What is the amendment about? Palmerston Park is close to Milltown so then the 80 would be drastically shortened on the Southern part of Dublin. What would cover the part from Ballinteer to Palmerston Park then?

Thanks. Next time I'm out that way I'll give the L59/52 combo a go and see what happens!

See my post above, seems that the 120 is hit and miss for capacity at pick up stops though. A full bus sailing by is no problem if there is another in five/ten minutes, but that's not the case for the 120 from what I can see. Must be so frustrating for waiting passengers.

Does anyone have the fare stages for the new routes, GAI specifically? It’s insane the way they’re just keeping the information to themselves, and I’d much rather not to have to do an FOI request. Second time I’ve heard arguments on the bus today about drivers not knowing the fares, or point blank saying the short fare doesn’t exist and telling people to use the right-hand validator.

Why are the northern part of 11 and 13 cancelled before launch of A-spine? Drumcondra will lose 2 frequent routes with no apparent replacement?

I would like to know about an announcement date for the southern orbitals as well.

I would have thought that some of the recent rumours circulating here recently about the start of the southern orbitals being postponed until late October or late November would have made a lot of sense due to the ongoing shortage of drivers. Is the plan to rollout the Southern orbitals in late September still credible from the NTA's point of view if there are enough drivers in place to rollout that new phase very soon?

I'm still going with the theory that this next phase of the project won't happen until I see a BusConnects leaflet from the NTA being placed in my letterbox that will show us the official new rollout date for it.

I still haven't seen any out of service buses out in my part of Dublin doing sort of any driver training yet for my local routes for the Southern Orbitals which covers the S8 and L25. I was out doing grocery shopping at Dunnes at the Playwright which is going to be served by the S8 a few days ago. No out of service buses were out doing training for that part of the route earlier this week.

Both the S6 and S8 will have their stops located at the Square in Tallaght. It would have added a lot of weight to the argument that if there was route training taking place for the S6. It could have been done for the S8 as well if GAI had a spare bus and driver out doing that route for training purposes.

I doubt the O will be delivered before March, the single deck buses have not arrived yet and there's no charging infrastructure for them.

Is it not Phibsborough depot thats looking after the O route ? The installation of their charging infrastructure is well underway and they're meant to start using the electric buses by October.

I wasn't aware, thanks for the update. Hopefully they get the drivers for it. NTA needs to put out an updated roll out schedule.

Well there was 3 rounds of consultation on the whole network change actually.

But agreed it's a delicate set up as is and there are gaps of up to 40 minutes between 46a's at present. maybe if that can be resolved by the O that'd be better, I've noticed a lot of people change onto/off the 46a at phibsboro. Ultimately it's a matter of infrastructure. There needs to be a bus gate through Phibsboro and an end of through traffic.