Provincial Past

1984 sees M 159 in Belturbet with a service to Cavan. The bus was delivered new to CIE in 1972. It received a DAF engine in 1991, becoming MD 159, and was briefly a school bus (MDS 159) before being withdrawn in 1997. The bus has Expressway branding on the side and was in Expressway livery in the 1990s.
In 2021 Bus Eireann Expressway still serves Belturbet, on route 30 between Donegal and Dublin. 06/04/1984

Provincial Past (61) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

cml387 wrote: »

The old "Minimum Fare" sign in the window.
What did it mean?

Certain longer routes used to charge a 'minimum fare' to discourage short-distance trips so people going further could get on the bus. A Dublin Bus example would be routes like the 65 to Blessington and 33 to Skerries / Balbriggan. Using the 1977 timetable as am example (as it is the closest one I have to hand), if you boarded the 33 in the City Centre after 17:20, you paid 20p minimum and did so up to Shanowen Road. As a contrast on the 33B the minimum fare on that route was 16p form City Centre and 8p from Collins Avenue. The intention was to have people travelling from City Centre to Santry (for example) to use the 3 or the 16 so the 33 could be left for people going to Lusk, Rush, Skerries and Balbriggan and who already paying the 20p to do that trip.

The same idea applied on provincial routes. Encourage people travelling shorter distances to get the bus going the shorter distance so room on the longer distance bus for people going further.

Hope that makes sense.

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Any idea what was special about that departure?

I am not sure but it might be something to do with people going to the Phoenix Park in the afternoon. The 66 had minimum fare on Saturday from 13:10 to 14:35 and the 67 departure is the only one that also falls in that timeframe. By contrast, the 26 had more departures on a Saturday than during the week and in that timeframe on a Saturday buses left the city centre on the 26 at 13:40, 14:05, 14:10 and 14:30. The 25 had departures at 13:15, 13:45, 14:15 and 14:30.

That is all just speculation on my part though. Maybe someone else knows the definitive answer.

2003 and sees VC 55 at Galway Airport. The bus is operating a service on route 436. This route stopped serving the airport in March 2013, approximately 18 months after the last scheduled air service from the airport.
VC 55 was delivered new to Bus Eireann in 1996 and spent nearly all of its career in Galway, being withdrawn around 2017. 22/04/2003

Provincial Past (63) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1984 sees D 606 at Parnell Place Bus Station in Cork with a service to Ringaskiddy. D 606 was delivered new to CIE in February 1976. It passed to Bus Eireann in February 1987, but before the end of that year it moved from Cork to Dublin and joined the Dublin Bus fleet. In 1992 it was withdrawn from the regular fleet and joined the Dublin Bus driving school. By 1998 it had lost its roof and became the tree-lopper and was finally retired around 2000.
Bus Eireann still serve Ringaskiddy from Cork with route 223, and more recently route 225. 05/05/1984

Provincial Past (65) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1989 sees KR 23 parked at the bus depot in Cavan. This bus was delivered new to CIE in 1985. It was withdrawn sometime after 1996 and spent most of its life based in Dundalk garage. It has branding on the front for Dundalk Heritage Year 1989, an event put on to mark 1200 years of that town. It also has an ad in the side window for a coal merchant. 10/05/1989

Provincial Past (66) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1999 sees Bus Eireann VC 1 at the station in Tralee. It is operating a service on route 50 to Galway. The bus was delivered new in 1994, part of an initial batch of twenty buses with Volvo chassis and Caetano bodies. By 1998 the order had increased to a total of 147 buses. It ended its days as a school bus in Dundalk, and was scrapped in 2014.
In the early-2000s route 50 was cut back to only operate between Galway and Kerry in the summer. In the winter it was Galway to Lisdoonvarna. The winter route eventually became the all year round route. In 2014 the 50 was merged into a newly revised route 350. 29/05/1999

Provincial Past (68) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1990 sees KC 163 in Cork on route 3 to Ballyphehane. This bus was originally given the registration number UZG 163 as most members of the KC class in that series entered service in 1985. However, KC 163 did not enter service until 1989 and therefore received the registration number 89 D 17144. Ten KCs in total were treated like this, with KC 169 being registered last in 1992.
KC 163 is in an allover ad for the Evening Echo. First published in 1892, the newspaper became The Echo in 2019 when it switched from an evening newspaper to a morning one.
Today route 203 runs from Lehenaghmore to Farranree via the city centre.
16/06/1990

Provincial Past (71) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

2007 sees probably the most branded bus in the Bus Eireann - DWR 10. This bus was one of twenty buses delivered in 2001 with a Wrights body on a DAF chassis. It was a regular on the Strabane to Stranorlar run as well as other local routes in County Dongeal. The sign in the window mentions connections with the Dublin bus in Lifford, hence all the branding on the bus. Around 2010 the bus transferred to the schools fleet and in 2012 it was put up for sale by Bus Eireann. Letterkenny 25/06/2007

Provincial Past (72) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1985 sees C 151 parked between duties at Stranorlar Garage in County Donegal. The bus was delivered new to CIE in 1966 and spent most of its career based in Sligo until it moved to Stranorlar in 1984. In 1986 it became a school bus and moved to Ballina. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1994. The bus is dressed for Ballybofey, a town on the other side of the river from Stranorlar. 01/07/1985

Provincial Past (73) by Cathal O'Brien, on Flickr

1988 sees a freshly painted Bus Eireann KD 176 at Parnell Place bus station in Cork. The bus was delivered new to CIE in 1982. It passed to Bus Eireann in 1987 and was withdrawn by 1997. 

The bus is seen operating a service on route 2 to Ringmahon. The area is still served today by route 202, which operates from the Mahon Point Shopping Centre to the Apple Campus in Holyhill, via the City Centre. 23/07/1988

1985 sees a very busy KR 63 load up at Galway Station. This bus was delivered new to CIE just two weeks before this picture was taken. Around 2000 it joined the schools fleet in Galway, and was withdrawn by Bus Eireann around 2005.

Route 419 still connects Galway with Clifden today. 27/07/1985

1989 sees KR 169 parked at the station in Wexford. This bus was delivered new to CIE in 1985. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann around 2007.

The bus has a paper destination in the window for Carnew. It is still possible to go by bus between Wexford and Carnew, but it is on the Thursday-only route 132 service between Rosslare and Dublin. 12/08/1989

Yes all the KRs were delivered in that livery. It is a gross simplification, but the three companies basically adopted what they inherited from CIE with slight tweaks. Irish Rail took the SuperTrain livery of black and tan, changed the tan to orange and added white stripes. Dublin Bus took the two-tone green, tweaked the shades and added an orange stripe. Bus Eireann took the KR livery and basically made the yellow stripe orange instead.

CIE Provincial buses have been red/white since at least the 1960s.

1986 sees CIE M 45 parked at the bus / rail station in Galway. This bus was delivered new to CIE in 1971, the same year it started to operate out of Galway. It remained in service there until it was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in 1999. It had become a school bus in 1991. In 2000 the bus entered preservation and still survives to this day.

The bus is dressed for the route to Spiddal and Carraroe, a route which it operated for many years. Today it is route 424 and is operated by the new VB Class of bus. 

23/08/1986

1992 sees Bus Eireann KC 175 at the station in Waterford. It is dressed for a service on route 2 to St. John's Park. This became route 602 and today it is served by route W3. 

KC 175 was delivered new to CIE in 1985. It remained in service until around the year 2000. 

08/09/1992