Throwback Thursday

This week we are going back fourteen years to 2007 and AV 263 on route 45 in Bray. Route 45 first started connecting Dublin city centre with Bray, via Ballsbridge and Cabinteely, in 1927. The route had two main terminii in Bray - the Esplanade along the seafront and Oldcourt from around 1975. AV 263 is seen here heading to the Esplanade. Based on the length of the route, this had to be one of the least informative destinations on the front of a bus in Dublin. In the early 2000s Oldcourt became the main destination, with Esplanade being served much less frequently. In May 2012 the 45 was removed from the network, as its usage had dropped over the years following the much more direct, and frequent, route 145. Route 45A still lives on, operating between Dun Laoghaire and Kilmacanogue via Bray.

AV 263 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2002. It was withdrawn around 2016/2017 but stayed in Dublin and moved to Executive Express. It spent all its career in Donnybrook Depott, though was involved in the shuttles for the Tall Ships Race in Waterford in 2005.

Behind the bus is the stadium of Bray Wanderers Football Club, that also doubled for Croke Park in the 1996 film, Michael Collins.25/07/2007

This week we are going back thirty-four years to D 608 in Swords with a service on route 43. This is the third route to use the number 43. The original route 43 operated between 1925 and 1939 connecting the city centre with Killester. The second route 43 went to Mount Merrion between 1940 and 1966. The Swords version started in 1986, operating to / from the city centre via Kinsealy. Originally terminating at the main stop in Swords as seen here, it was extended to Swords Business Park in the early 2000s where it still operates to this day.

D 608 was delivered new to CIE in Dublin in 1974. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1993 when it was sold for scrap.

Ryans Bar in the background is no longer standing, having been cleared to provide better views of Swords Castle behind it.

22/02/1987

This week we are going back thirty-one years to 1990 and KD 348 passing through College Green on route 10. This route started in 1940, operating between the Phoenix Park and Donnybrook. Around 1970 it was extended south to Belfield. This route has probably been used by a lot of people over the years, either heading to Dublin Zoo in the Phoenix Park on the northside, or to go study at University College Dublin in Belfield on the southside. However, in 2010 the route was removed from the network by Network Direct. Route 46A replaced it on the northside, and route 39A on the southside. 

KD 348 was delivered new to CIE in 1983. It was withdrawn around 1999/2000. Over the years it wore many different all-over advertisements. Here it is advertising Lee Cooper jeans. It also advertised PMPA Insurance and Telecom Eireann CallCards. 

05/08/1990

This week we are only going back nine years to EV 21 on Abbey Street with a service on route 31B to Howth Summit. This route started in 1988, originally running to Howth Station via Carrickbrack Road and Howth Summit. In the early 2000s it was cut back to just Howth Summit, operating via Strand Road in Sutton, as well as Carrickbrack Road. The route ended in June 2021 when the Bus Connects network started its roll-out. The 31B, and the similar 31A, were replaced by new route 6.

EV 21 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2007. It was initially based out of Clontarf Garage, but in 2016 the Enviro 400 joined the Dublin Bus tour fleet and lost most of its roof for its new duties. In the background is former Dublin Bus RV 522 in the livery of its new owners - Irlanda Tours. 

EV 21 is turning off Marlborough Street onto Abbey Street. In the foreground is the Luas Red Line. Today the Luas Green Line crosses the Red Line at this point as it heads south along Marlborough Street.

19/08/2012

This week we are going back twenty-years to RV 458 on Parnell Square. The bus is dressed for the brand new route 116 to Whitechurch via Stillorgan. This route was one of the many new routes that started around this time to tie in with the new Quality Bus Corridor along the Stillorgan Road. During 2000 the 116 was expanded to serve not just Whitechurch but also Clonskea, Sandyford Industrial Estate, Ballinteer and DCU. In more recent years the route has been cut back to just Whitechurch again. 

The branding on the side of RV 458 (Stillorgan Flyer) refers to the 46A. It was part of the rebranding of that route as part of the Stillorgan QBC, even though the 46A was already a CitySwift route. 

RV 458 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in February 1999. The Volvo Olympian only lasted ten years, being withdrawn in 2009. It spent all its career in Donnybrook Garage. It was sold on to Procter of Leeming Bar in the United Kingdom. 

24/08/1999

Afaik the 116 only started in August 1999. And then it was between Parnell Square and Whitechurch via the QBC. It was in 2000 that it gained other routings.

This week we are only going back nine years to 2012 and AV 166 at the Blanchardstown Centre on route 236. When the shopping centre opened in October 1996, it gained three local routes (237, 238 and 239) that initially served the surrounding areas of Coolmine, Castleknock, Mulhuddart, Ballycoolin and Luttrelstown. Around 2001 the 236 joined this local network, serving the Ballycoolin IDA park on a circular route. It only operated in the peak-hours, and was branded as FactoryLink. For a while there was a separate route 236 that ran to a northern terminus in Tyrellstown. Under Network Direct the route was reduced again to just the Ballycoolin circular in 2010. In January 2019 the route passed to Go-Ahead Ireland, along with the other local routes in Blanchardstown. It was also joined by a new route, the 236A.

AV 166 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2000. It was withdrawn in late-2013 and emigrated to the United Kingdom where it joined the Beaverbus fleet in Leicester. 31/08/2012

This week we are going back only 11 years, to the final days of a bus route in Dublin in Autumn 2010. 

Dublin Bus AW 18 is seen at the terminus of route 4A at Stradbrook, near Deansgrange, in the south-eastern part of the city. Route 4A started in November 2007, running between Harristown (on the Northside of Dublin) and Stradbrook (on the Southside) via the City Centre. It was a derivative of route 4 which ran between Harristown and Blackrock and together they provided extra capacity along the Rock Road on the Southside, and the Ballymun Road on the Northside. However, under Network Direct it was decided to merge both routes into one, with the 4 extended to Monkstown Avenue via Stradbrook. This extension was also planned to replace part of the 46A route, which was removed from Monkstown Farm. These changes took place in September 2010, giving the 4A a lifespan of two years, 10 months.

AW 18 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2000. It was one of twenty bendy-buses delivered that year, as a trial to see if that type of bus could work here. After spending time on a number of routes (trying to find some they could be suitable on as the narrow streets of Dublin provided a challenge), they settled down on route 10 eventually. In 2006 they migrated to the new route 4, so were also naturally allocated to the 4A in 2007. The end of the 4A also marked the end of the AW Class, and over the following months they started to be withdrawn with them all gone by early-2011. A few of them went on to have careers in the United Kingdom. AW 18 itself was scrapped in the UK.

15/09/2010