Throwback Thursday

This week we are going back thirteen years to 2009 and RV 586 in Drumcondra on route 116. The 116 is one of those peak-hour only routes that has a complicated (and confusing) history. It started in 1999 running between Whitechurch and the city centre, using the new Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor. From then it started to expand, with variations serving different places and using different routings. From 2000 one of those variations was Clonskea to DCU (Dublin City University) in Whitehall. This lasted until around 2010. Now the 116 only operates once more between Whitechurch and the city centre.

RV 586 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1999. It was withdrawn in October 2012 and sold on to another Irish operator. 

08/04/2009

This week we are going back forty-one years to 1981 and D 818 on the seafront (or Esplanade) at Bray. The bus is dressed for route 45A, a route that started operating between Dun Laoghaire and Bray in 1936. In 2004 it was extended to Ballywaltrim (it had previously served there too in the late-1980s/early-1990s), and in 2015 it was extended further south to Kilmacanogue. The latter change was part of a terminus swap with route 145 which moved to Ballywaltrim instead. In 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over operating the route. 

D 818 was delivered new to CIE in 1976. It was withdrawn and sold for scrap in 1994.

Bray Esplanade ceased to be on the Dublin Bus network in 2012 with the end of route 45. 

21/04/1981

This week we are going back twenty-two years to 2000 and the final year of Bombardier bus use by Dublin Bus. KC 113 is seen at the terminus for route 51A in Lower Abbey Street. This route started operating between Dublin city centre and Beaumont in 1936. It stopped running in 1942, before resuming again in 1949. Around 1988 it was extended to Beaumont Hospital after it opened. The route ceased to operate in 2009. It was always one of the numbering oddities within the Dublin bus network as the other routes in the 51 series served Clondalkin in west Dublin. The end of the 51A also saw roads like Grace Park Road and Clonliffe Road lose their bus services.

KC 113 was delivered new to CIE in 1986. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 2000, along with the other remaining KD and KC buses. This marked the end of the use of Bombardier / GAC buses by Dublin Bus, apart from a farewell run in January 2001. 

This stop on Abbey Street is now the terminus for route 33. 

05/05/2000

This week we are going back eight years to 2014 and Dublin Bus GT 39 at Sutton Station. This bus is waiting to depart with a service on route 102 to Dublin Airport. This route started operating in 1986 between Malahide and Sutton. It was one of the new DART Feeder services introduced around that time to connect people with the new suburban rail service. In 2008 it was extended from Malahide to Dublin Airport when it merged with route 230. Then in December 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over operation of the route. 

GT 39 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2012. It was part of the first batch of GT Class buses delivered to Dublin Bus, the first type of bus since 1999 to be delivered with front and middle doors. In total 160 of these buses were delivered to Dublin Bus, but 12 subsequently transferred to Go-Ahead Ireland. GT 39 was not one of them. 

17/05/2014

This week we are going back thirty-nine years to KD 345 on Abbey Street. The bus is picking up passengers while operating a service on route 39 to Clonsilla. This route started operating between Dublin and Blanchardstown in 1926. By 982 it reached Clonsilla and in 2004 it was extended to Ongar. In 2010 it's city terminus was moved to Burlington Road. It's main claim to fame was becoming the first CitySwift route 1993, with its frequency massively increased. 

KD 345 was delivered new to CIE in May 1983, shortly before this picture was taken. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in the late-1990s. It spent a period from 1988 in an all-over ad for Coca-Cola. 

26/05/1983

This week we are going back twenty-three years to 1999 and RA 226 on Middle Abbey Street. The bus is dressed for route 67A , which started running between the city centre and Maynooth (via Celbridge) around 1988. It ceased in 2010 when the regular 67 was itself extended to Maynooth from Celbridge. 

The bus is branded for the "25A Lucan Road Flyer". Certain routes in the city, mostly CitySwift routes, received this type of branding in the late-1990s. It was mostly an attempt to relaunch the CitySwift brand. Part of this including branding some buses, like this one, with Super CitySwift also.

RA 226 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1995. It was withdrawn in 2007 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom.

22/06/1999

This week we are going back 37 years to 1985 and KD 38 on a diverted route 3. This route started running between Whitehall / Larkhill and Sandymount Tower in 1940. In 1972 it was extended to St. John’s Church, near Sydney Parade station, (although the older destination still lingered on as seen here) and in 1990 certain departures were extended to and from UCD Belfield. The route ceased to operate in 2012 when it was replaced by route 1 under Network Direct. The route usually operated via O’Connell Street but for whatever reason it was diverted via Gardiner Street on the day the picture was taken. Not sure if it was connected, but the day before U2 and REM played a concert in Croke Park.

KD 38 was delivered new to CIE in 1981. It had been withdrawn by 1996.

The ad on the side is for British airline Dan Air, founded in 1953. It was sold to British Airways in 1992 for £1.

The Holyhead Bed&Breakfast is still open on Gardiner Street in 2022.

30/06/1985

This week we are going thirteen years to 2009 and WV 45 crossing O’Connell Bridge on route 63 to Mountjoy Square. The DUTC started operating this route between the city centre and Carrickmines in 1934. In 1955 it also started serving Glenamuck, and around 1986 it was extended to Kilternan. In 2010 the route was cut back from the city centre to Dun Laoghaire, becoming just a local route. In 2018 Go-Ahead Ireland took over running route 63 between Dun Laoghaire and Kilternan. 

WV 45 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 2001. It was one of fifty-two midi-buses delivered from Wrights between 1999 and 2001. It was withdrawn in 2012 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom. 

08/07/2009

This week we are going to the 1995 and D 837 on O'Connell Street with a service on route 16. to Grange Road. This bus route started operating between Whitehall and Terenure in 1939. In 1955 it started running between Santry and Grange Road. In 2001 the southern terminus moved to Ballinteer and in 2012 the route was merged with the 16A to run from Dublin Airport to Ballinteer.

D 837 was delivered new to CIE in 1979. It was withdrawn by Dublin bus two months after this photograph was taken, in September 1995, and sold for scrap.

Beside the front of the bus is Clerys Department Store. It opened in 1853 and closed in 2015. The site is currently being redeveloped.  

14/07/1995

This week we are going back thirty-one years to RH 78 in Maynooth, on route 67A. This route started operating between the city centre and Maynooth, going via Celbridge around 1988. It ceased to operate in 2010 when it was merged into the regular route 67, which saw all departures extended to/from Maynooth. In 2021 the 67 became route C4 under Bus Connects. The current terminus is further up the Straffan Road, closer to the railway station.

RH 78 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1991. It was withdrawn in 2005 and later sold on to an operator in the UK.

20/07/1991

This week we are going back thirty-one years to 1991 and KC 48 at The Square in Tallaght. The bus is dressed for route 76A. This route originally started operating between Blanchardstown and Tallaght just before The Square opened in 1990. It was then extended to the shopping centre in October of that year when it opened, as well as to Blakestown at the northern end. In 1996 it moved to the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, while the southern terminus was split between Balrothery and Fettercairn for a while. In more recent years it has consistently operated between the shopping centres in Tallaght and Blanchardstown, with Go-Ahead Ireland taking over the operation of the route from Dublin Bus in 2019.  

KC 48 was delivered new to CIE in 1983. It was withdrawn from service by Dublin Bus ion 2000 and went on to join the Bus Eireann school bus fleet. In 2004 it was acquired for preservation. 

03/08/1991

Less a tour I think and possibly more a case of bringing shoppers down. Like when Ikea in Belfast when it opened and Bus Eireann ran services up to it.

This week we are going back twenty-five years to 1997 and RA 316 on Talbot Street. The bus is dressed for route 27. This route started operating between the city centre and Coolock in 1966. Thirty years later the route went over to CitySwift, as seen on RA 316 and the bus behind it here. The northern terminus also moved to Clare Hall. In 2011 the route was also merged with the 77, and the new cross-city route ran from Edenmore to Jobstown. Although the northern terminus was soon moved back to Clare Hall from Edenmore. 

RA 316 was delivered new to Dublin Bus in 1996. It was withdrawn in 2007 and sold on to an operator in the UK.

This terminus on Talbot Street is now used by routes 42, 43 and 53.  

17/08/1997

This week we are only going back a short four-year hop to 2018 but to a sight that did not last very long. Go-Ahead Ireland 11562 is seen on Sheriff Street operating one of the many papal shuttles that operated from around the city to the World Meeting of Families in the Phoenix Park. For this event, most of the shuttle services were operated by Dublin Bus. Translink Metro (from Belfast) operated one from M3 Parkway to Fairyhouse and Go-Ahead Ireland operated this shuttle to Dublin docklands. This was the first service to be operated by Go-Ahead Ireland in Dublin, as route 175 did not start until September 2018, and the first routes from Dublin Bus did not transfer over until October 2018. 

The buses used that day were in the new Transport for Ireland livery that was due to roll out across the country. However, when the 175 started in September, the buses had received a yellow front following feedback from disability groups. That version of the livery was replaced in 2021 by a new yellow and green livery. 

11562 was delivered new to Go-Ahead Ireland in 2018. It was part of a batch bought new for the tender it had one, rather than part of the SG batch that transferred over from Dublin Bus.

Although the number of participants at the papal mass in the Phoenix Park were not as high as expected, a very large public transport operation successfully took place that day.

26/08/2018

This week we are going back twenty-four years to Dublin Bus KD 9 on Burgh Quay. The bus is at the terminus of route 7. This bus route started running between the city centre and Dun Laoghaire in 1949. It ceased in 1951 (with route 7A taking over) before returning around 1980 and extended to Ballybrack. In 1988 it moved to Loughlinstown Park, and in 2004 also started serving Cherrywood. In 2016 the route was changed to solely serve Brides Glen. 

KD 9 was delivered new to CIE in 1981. It was withdrawn by 2000, along with the rest of the KD Class. 

The ad on the side of the bus is for Argos. They arrived in the Republic of Ireland from the UK in 1996, and getting the Argos catalogue was always a big deal. In some ways it was the analogue version of Amazon. 

07/09/1998

This week we are going back eight years to 2014 and a number of peak-morning buses on Kildare Street. DT 5 is seen on route 37 to Wilton Terrace while DT 8 is seen on route 41X to UCD Belfield. Both buses are part of the fleet of ten delivered to Dublin Bus in 2003. These were outliers in the fleet as the other 648 ALX400s had a Volvo chassis. The full DT fleet was withdrawn by the end of 2017. Both buses here were sold to private operators in Ireland. In the background is VT 38, one of 70 tri-axle Enviro 500s delivered between 2005 and 2007. Currently only ten members of the VT fleet are in service, but one of them is VT 38 which is in the latest TFI livery.

Currently, route 37 runs all day between Blanchardstown Shopping Centre and Wilton Terrace (but the DT was doing an extra morning service on it). The 41X is a limited-stop Xpresso service that runs between Swords and UCD Belfield, going via the city centre. Route 66X no longer runs as it was replaced during the Bus Connects changes in November 2021 along the C-Spine. The X25 and X26 now runs from Maynooth to UCD Belfield.

When this picture was taken, stop 747 on Kildare St was one of the stops in the city with the most routes serving it (around 22 at this time). Most of these were Xpresso routes that only operated in the morning.Today that number has been reduced to about 15.  

30/09/2014

This week we are going back eleven years to 2011 and RV 469 at the route 78A terminus on Aston Quay. This bus was new to Dublin Bus in 1999 and withdrawn in November 2011. It was sold on to Movies on the Move and became a catering vehicle. 

Route 78A started in 1957 running between the city centre and Cherry Orchard Hospital on the Ballyfermot Road. Around 1985 it reached Balgaddy and 1997 it moved terminus again to Quarryvale. The following year it extended into Liffey Valley Shopping Centre after in opened. In November 2011 the route was merged into an extended route 40. In October 2022 the 40 was split in two and new route G2 under Bus Connects which basically is old route 78A (with an extension to Spencer Dock). 

The bus may no longer be with Dublin Bus, nor the route, but SuperValu in the background is still there in 2022.  

18/10/2011