Bus Stop Of The Month

For this month's Bus Stop Of The Month, we are going to stop 6116 on St. Margaret's Road, near Charlestown. This stop is located near the roundabout at Lanesborough. The last bus route to serve this road (that I can determine) was route 40B. This was the 40B to Toberburr that ceased to operate in 2009, and not the current 40B to Toberburr that started in 2011. The 40B used to access Finglas Village via this road and Jamestown Road. In May 2009, the route ceased to operate and was replaced by new route 240 which ran from Toberburr to Cappagh Hospital. This was a very confusing route, as initially it was due to terminate in Deanstown before the decision was taken to extend to Cappagh Hospital. Also, it was planned to follow the old 40B routing via St. Margaret's Road and Jamestown Road, but when the route was implemented it went down St. Margaret's Road passing Charlestown Shopping Centre and McKelvey Avenue instead. However, reports from the first few days of the route saw buses using either routing between Finglas and the Lanesborough roundabout. So stop 6116 was planned to be used by the 240, then when route started it wasn't, but there is a chance it was. It should come as no surprise that route 240 did not last very long. Having started in May 2009, it was withdrawn in September 2009. Certain departures on route 40 were extended to Toberburr, and in 2011 the 40B returned but did not go via Jamestown Road.  

However, the story may not end there for this bus stop. Under Bus Connects, this stretch of road is due to be served by routes E2 and the 23. So stop 6116 may have a future yet.

04/03/2023

This month we are returning to an area of Dublin where this series started - Sandymount. Stop 2804 is located on Strand Road, near the junction with Newgrove Avenue. It is an example of a compulsory bus stop, something Dublin Bus tried back in 2008. These were located around the city, and were stops buses had to stop at, whether passengers were waiting or not. This one was near the former Rehab site in Sandymount, and the opposite direction stop around the corner on Newgrove Avenue was a compulsory stop too. That stop is still in use as it is the route 18 terminus. Other locations they appeared at included Whitworth Road (near the National Council for the Blind), Drumcondra (near St. Patrick's College), the Rock Road (near the Merrion Gates), Clarence Street and George's Street in Dun Laoghaire, Botanic Road (near Prospect Way) and Jamestown Road (near Sycamore Road) in Finglas. History would suggest the concept was not a success.

The pole still displays routes 1 and 47, which were active and went this way when this series started back in 2019. Both of these routes started serving Sandymount in May 2012, under Network Direct changes but were diverted away from Strand Road and along Gilford Road and Park Avenue instead in February 2021. However the 1 was cut back in November 2021 when the C-Spine was introduced under Bus Connects, with the C1 and C2 terminating at St. John's Church instead. Prior to May 2012, this stop would have been served by routes 2 and 3, which could trace their origins back to tram routes. 

Sandymount has a lot more to contribute to this series.

20/05/2023

We are cheating ever so slightly with this instalment of Bus Stop Of The Month. Stop 358 is located on Sean Moore Road, in Irishtown. It was one of the stops on the original route 1 which ran between the city centre and the Pigeon House Power Station. That route last ran in May 2012.

Network Direct in 2011 proposed extending route 18 from Sandymount to the Docklands via here, but that never happened. However, and this is where the cheating comes in, it may soon happen. Bus Connects proposes partially replacing route 18 (and route 17) with new route S2, which will start further down Sean Moore Road, closer to the roundabout in the background. On the ground beside this bus stop, a new socket for the replacement bus stop can be seen. The S2 is proposed to start later this year, so after an eleven year gap, this stop will return to service.

However this stop does qualify for this series as it is currently out of service, and has been for eleven years. 

15/07/2023

This month we are visiting stop 1612 on the Tolka Valley Road in south Finglas. This is a slightly unusual stop. Route 40 and route 220 pass this stop on their way to Dublin city centre and to DCU respectively. The stop is also shown on the TFI journey planner map, as well as on Google maps, where it is called "Dublin Industrial Estate". However it is not in service, so the maps don't show any departures from it, and neither the 40 nor 220 stop here. 

It seems it was last fourteen years ago. Back in 2009, it was served by routes 40C, 40D and 220. During that year there was a revision of services in the Finglas area, and it is possible it was those changes that spelled the end for this bus stop. Around that time, stop 7471 went in further up the Tolka Valley Road, near Tolka Valley Green. That stop was probably the replacement for this one. 

Stop 1592 on the other side of the road, in the background of the photograph, is still in use.  

04/08/2023

This month we are visiting bus stop 2827 in Dundrum. This stop is located on the Sandyford Road beside the Dundrum Town Centre. Over the years it was served by Dublin Bus 44, 44B and 116. In 2018 it gained the blue top when Go-Ahead Ireland route 175 started serving it also. Around that time the stop was also moved from the inside of the footpath, to the kerbside.

In the background can be seen the remains of a Dublin Coach bus stop which was erected around 2016 for the route 750 service to Dublin Airport. 

These stops fell out of use in August 2020 when the council introduced a new one way system in Dundrum. Southbound buses now use the by-pass, and only northbound buses use this road and the northbound stops along it.  

30/12/2023

Possibly a slight cheat this month, as technically stop 4717 at Busaras is an unused bus stop, but the bus bay is not. 

Stop 4717 comes under the Dublin Bus bus stop numbering scheme, For many years it was the stop used by Airlink buses (and their predecessors), providing an express bus service to Dublin Airport from the city centre. As such it has been served, at various points in time, by Dublin Bus routes 747, 748 and 757. For a brief period in 1999 it was also served by Hotelink route 61A. Airlink was suspended in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in 2021 it was announced it was completely gone. There are rumours though it may return.

In 2013 this became stop number 3 on the new Dublin Bus Docklands Tour, with open-top buses serving it every half hour. Around 2017 the Docklands Tour was subsumed into the regular city tour, however the Busaras stop did not last long on the new tour route. In 2020 all tours were suspended, again due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and when they resumed in 2021, the Docklands element was completely gone from the tour route. Therefore, it has been four years since Dublin Bus has used this bus top.

However, this bus bay is also known as Gate 15 as part of Busaras, and has been used by Bus Eireann services since 2020. Since 2023 it has been used exclusively by Translink Goldline services to Belfast and Derry. So the bus bay is still in use, but technically the bus stop is not. 

17/03/2024

This month we are visiting Sheriff Street and bus stop 7710 at Docklands Station.

This stop was installed in early 2007 when Docklands Station opened, and bus routes 93 and 151 commenced. However they terminated at a stop on the other side of the road, and neither route served this stop. Route 93 only lasted a few months (running between here and Burgh Quay), while route 151 moved terminus within three months to further down the docks. It did, and still does, continue to serve the stop on the other side of the road to this.

This bus stop did gain a route though in July 2019 when route 53A (Talbot Street to Sheriff Street) commenced. However, that route was suspended in June 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to return. So apart from a brief eleven-month interlude, this stop has been mostly unserved for seventeen years.

19/05/2024

This month we are visiting Ballyogan and a bus stop on Ballyogan Road, beside the Leopardstown Valley Luas tram stop.

Up until May 2012, this stop was served by route 44 in both directions, as the route did a loop around Ballyogan. From the mid-1990s to around 2009, route 44C also ran between the city centre and Ballyogan. However, with the opening of the Luas Green Line extension to Brides Glen in 2010, the decision was taken to remove the Ballyogan loop from the 44. Route 63 still serves Ballyogan, but approaches from the south and does not serve this stop.

22/06/2024