Dublin Coach Experience Discussion Thread

XPS_Zero · 08-11-2018 11:41pm

Which is why I support he bus plan of tendering, a monopoly means one strike = the entire network shuts down, whereas with that plan we still have unions, we still have collective bargaining, we still have workers rights, we still have well paid workers, but they don't have the power to hold the public to ransom by monopoly.

end of the road · 08-11-2018 11:56pm

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Which is why I support he bus plan of tendering, a monopoly means one strike = the entire network shuts down, whereas with that plan we still have unions, we still have collective bargaining, we still have workers rights, we still have well paid workers, but they don't have the power to hold the public to ransom by monopoly.

they already don't have the power to hold the public to ransom. they haven't for a very long time. a monopoly in subsidized services is fine as long as it is managed properly.

bk · 09-11-2018 9:22pm

end of the road wrote: »

they already don't have the power to hold the public to ransom. they haven't for a very long time. a monopoly in subsidized services is fine as long as it is managed properly.

Complete nonsense, last year we saw BE drivers try and hold the country to ransom for three weeks with their strike. It only failed because the private operators were their and people were able to use them instead. Many people were still highly inconvenienced, but it wasn't as bad as it would otherwise have been. The country mostly kept moving.

Previously CIE strikes brought the entire country to it's knees. The fact that services have been broken up and de-monopolised means it is more difficult to do that now.

KyussB · 11-11-2018 6:26pm

Earlier this week I got the bus from Belfast to Dublin and back, and on both occasions, witnessed the police arrest someone getting off the bus.

The first time, I was boarding an outbound bus, and in front of the inbound bus that just pulled in behind us, saw the police tackle a guy to the ground and arrest him - "don't see that very often..." I thought.

The Next Fucking Day - I am on the inbound bus, and three drunk guys are on it too (this is becoming more and more normal for their buses) - one of them becomes aggressive after unintelligibly asking the driver a question, shouting increasingly angry racist abuse at the bus driver.

Then a woman intervenes telling him to stop, pointing out that the driver has to concentrate on driving, and then he gives her a fuckton of shouty abuse - continuing to alternate between racist abuse towards the driver, shouty abuse towards the woman, threatening to hijack the bus, threatening to have someone waiting to attack the woman (and possibly driver, did not hear clearly) when the bus arrives, and seeming to make a semi-unintelligible phone call trying to arrange this.

This went on for a while. His 2 mates were comatose at the back.

At some stage it dawned on him this meant the police would be waiting. As soon as the bus pulled off the motorway in Belfast, before reaching its final stop, he and one of his semi-conscious mates rush up to the driver and he starts shouting, demanding to be let off - there was a brave lad who, earlier on, moved close to the front to keep an eye.

The drunk guy then assaults the bus driver while the bus is moving - the lad who was keeping an eye rushes forward to help - and gets thrown forward, practically flying, into the drunk guy - as the bus driver has to break while being assaulted (cue multiple "fucking hell", "jesus christ" exclamations from passengers).

Fair play to that lad though, as he got the drunk guy in a headlock, pulling him free from the driver and partly back up the aisle - and when the drunk guy got free and squared up to him, the lad backed up the aisle and kept the drunk guy distracted long enough, for the bus driver to turn the corner where the police were waiting.

The bus driver finally stops early and opens the door, before things can kick off again - and (after some persuasion from passengers) the drunk guy and his mate run off right as the police pull up, practically into their hands.

Fucking disaster of a bus-service/journey. The driver did extremely well under the circumstances, but he should not be in a position where this sort of thing can happen - if he was attacked on the motorway it could lead to a serious accident - Dublin Coach need to properly support their drivers, and make sure they're not put in situations like this (not to mention passengers, also...) - they need to stop letting drunk/high people on the busses (and have a procedure for dumping them off early), and they need to have someone there to protect the driver if something does kick off.

I won't be using their service again, anyway. Dodgy/drunk/high folk on their buses is a regular thing, that I've just kind of shrugged off up to now, as they usually don't cause a bother - never again, though - it's just plain unsafe if the driver is open to being attacked, relying on bystanders to defend him.

Truckermal · 11-11-2018 8:07pm

Well now that's funny as we stopped in Kildare village for a coffee yesterday and the two guys beside me were discussing some drunken incident but more so were really slating their employer talking about stuff falling apart etc etc.

When I got up I copped the logo on his jacket and they use that for changing over driver's.

L1011 · 11-11-2018 8:17pm

Locked or loaded pax is not a company specific problem really!

Stephen15 · 11-11-2018 8:32pm

L1011 wrote: »

Locked or loaded pax is not a company specific problem really!

Agreed but it doesn't take from the fact that DC are a shambles of a company for plenty of other reasons

KyussB · 11-11-2018 8:34pm

What companies do or don't do in response to a growing trend of such passengers, is a problem specific to each company, though - are they going to make sure nothing like that happens again, or are they just going to lump it on the drivers and passengers to sort out?

If they take the latter policy - which is just plain unsafe, as it can lead to a crash if the driver is on his own if assaulted - then that's not on, there is a situation they know is unsafe, that has a fair chance of happening again, and if they don't take preventative action then that is negligent and they (as a company) need to be held responsible (preferably well in advance, before anything like that can happen again).

Stephen15 · 11-11-2018 9:58pm

KyussB wrote: »

What companies do or don't do in response to a growing trend of such passengers, is a problem specific to each company, though - are they going to make sure nothing like that happens again, or are they just going to lump it on the drivers and passengers to sort out?

If they take the latter policy - which is just plain unsafe, as it can lead to a crash if the driver is on his own if assaulted - then that's not on, there is a situation they know is unsafe, that has a fair chance of happening again, and if they don't take preventative action then that is negligent and they (as a company) need to be held responsible (preferably well in advance, before anything like that can happen again).

What do expect companies to do to be fair not a whole lot they can do if the person has a valid ticket when boarding and isin't visibly intoxicated and only becomes aggresive mid journey.

Stephen15 · 11-11-2018 9:59pm

KyussB wrote: »

What companies do or don't do in response to a growing trend of such passengers, is a problem specific to each company, though - are they going to make sure nothing like that happens again, or are they just going to lump it on the drivers and passengers to sort out?

If they take the latter policy - which is just plain unsafe, as it can lead to a crash if the driver is on his own if assaulted - then that's not on, there is a situation they know is unsafe, that has a fair chance of happening again, and if they don't take preventative action then that is negligent and they (as a company) need to be held responsible (preferably well in advance, before anything like that can happen again).

What do expect companies to do to be fair not a whole lot they can do if the person has a valid ticket when boarding and isin't visibly intoxicated and only becomes aggresive mid journey.

KyussB · 12-11-2018 12:00am

I explained what I expect in my original post.

Stephen15 · 12-11-2018 12:21am

KyussB wrote: »

I explained what I expect in my original post.

You mention DC should be doing more to support their drivers but you don't say how

belfast stephen · 12-11-2018 8:51pm

There has been over the last few months an increase in the number of passengers traveling between belfast and Dublin who are transporting somthing that they should not be ie Drugs

devnull · 12-11-2018 10:59pm

Their latest accounts are in.

Last Bus made a profit of 2,684,255 EUR whilst Citi Bus made a loss of 591,198 EUR

Draw your own conclusions.

Cakewheels · 12-11-2018 11:04pm

Travelling the on M9 Route on Sunday, the bus was freezing and there seemed to be a severe draft. This is the second or third time I've experienced this on Dublin Coach buses and I don't remember it ever happening on any other bus whether BE or one of the other private operators. Do other people regularly experience this too and what's the reason? Does heating constantly break down just because the buses or old or they don't maintain it, or are they deliberately leaving it off for fuel economy or something?

Also the emergency escape in the roof of the bus looked as if it might be missing a cover, there was loose wires etc. on it that I don't recall seeing on other buses. Not hanging down or anything so probably not really an issue (unless it was the cause of the draft) but I'm not sure if would make make it any trickier to open.

punisher5112 · 12-11-2018 11:12pm

Cakewheels wrote: »

Travelling the on M9 Route on Sunday, the bus was freezing and there seemed to be a severe draft. This is the second or third time I've experienced this on Dublin Coach buses and I don't remember it ever happening on any other bus whether BE or one of the other private operators. Do other people regularly experience this too and what's the reason? Does heating constantly break down just because the buses or old or they don't maintain it, or are they deliberately leaving it off for fuel economy or something?

Also the emergency escape in the roof of the bus looked as if it might be missing a cover, there was loose wires etc. on it that I don't recall seeing on other buses. Not hanging down or anything so probably not really an issue (unless it was the cause of the draft) but I'm not sure if would make make it any trickier to open.

The cable is the pull release as it pulls down towards you.

If it's been pulled they tend to just wrap it back up

XPS_Zero · 13-11-2018 11:40am

belfast stephen wrote: »

There has been over the last few months an increase in the number of passengers traveling between belfast and Dublin who are transporting somthing that they should not be ie Drugs

...and not just on the bus.

A plain clothes armed support unit had to stop a guy going up to Belfast on the Enterprise to do a hit (yeh a hit ala the f---g Sopranos) with a handgun on him a few months ago. They pretended to be a junkie couple arguing, by all accounts did a really realistic job (since they've encountered many in their job I'd say they had lots of material to draw on), then suddenly grabbed the guy.

I assume they thought sending a full uniformed team charging into the carriage yelling "armed police" might give the fool time to draw the gun and think he can shoot his way out of the situation, which would be particularly dangerous if he looked out the window and saw them coming first. There would have been passengers right in the line of fire in both directions, it could have been a disaster, they managed it well. They must have got their information late and could not grab him before he got to the train.

I think with DC, and any company, the staff you buy tickets from have a duty to not sell to someone who is hammered. It's also not rocket science spotting a scumbag is it? Not to stereotype but if you have someone who looks that way AND is drunk, don't let them on your companies bus, you have a right to refuse service in "good faith" as long as you are not discriminating based on the 9 grounds: use it. Of course there is nothing you can do if they get hammered mid journey, but this type don't strike me as the type to only start drinking and get hammered in the 90-100 min journey to Belfast on DC...they strike me as the type who have been drinking since the sun came up.

belfast stephen · 13-11-2018 2:27pm

XPS_Zero wrote: »

...and not just on the bus.

A plain clothes armed support unit had to stop a guy going up to Belfast on the Enterprise to do a hit (yeh a hit ala the f---g Sopranos) with a handgun on him a few months ago. They pretended to be a junkie couple arguing, by all accounts did a really realistic job (since they've encountered many in their job I'd say they had lots of material to draw on), then suddenly grabbed the guy.

I assume they thought sending a full uniformed team charging into the carriage yelling "armed police" might give the fool time to draw the gun and think he can shoot his way out of the situation, which would be particularly dangerous if he looked out the window and saw them coming first. There would have been passengers right in the line of fire in both directions, it could have been a disaster, they managed it well. They must have got their information late and could not grab him before he got to the train.

I think with DC, and any company, the staff you buy tickets from have a duty to not sell to someone who is hammered. It's also not rocket science spotting a scumbag is it? Not to stereotype but if you have someone who looks that way AND is drunk, don't let them on your companies bus, you have a right to refuse service in "good faith" as long as you are not discriminating based on the 9 grounds: use it. Of course there is nothing you can do if they get hammered mid journey, but this type don't strike me as the type to only start drinking and get hammered in the 90-100 min journey to Belfast on DC...they strike me as the type who have been drinking since the sun came up.

Some of them are not drunk and just look like normal passengers

there was also an aircoach driver was badly assaulted by 2 junkies a few months ago will loading passengers for the belfast at the stop in Dublin city centre

XPS_Zero · 13-11-2018 5:53pm

belfast stephen wrote: »

Some of them are not drunk and just look like normal passengers

there was also an aircoach driver was badly assaulted by 2 junkies a few months ago will loading passengers for the belfast at the stop in Dublin city centre

Despite 1-2 highly annoying incidents with my pass where I wanted to throttle the driver, I've huge sympathy for PT staff in this country for the amount of crap they have to put up with.

Coming home on a BE today I saw a guy get on and check the bus for something that had clearly been dropped off...he was not even slightly subtle, someone further down the route had dropped something and he was picking it up: but he didn't find it. I could see where he was searching he wasn't looking for plugs or a usb socket because they were all over the place on this bus. I noticed as we went around a roundabout a GARDA car parked on the hard shoulder part of the roundabout and thought that was weird. Maybe they're traffic corps, but there was no traffic corps sign on the car.

We rounded the roundabout, and sure enough after waiting a few seconds the car started up and began to follow us. Maybe they were watching him, maybe they were gonna grab him, I dunno, but it just goes to show the danger staff could be in from things they don't even know about. I was wondering how the cops would even warn the driver there was someone dangerious on his bus and they were going to stop, a Translink guy once told me BE have radios in their busses (they apparently do not, oddly), but surely the guy would hear that too? You'd want to call him on the phone or a hands free/blue tooth or have some kind of radio that goes into the ear like we use in security.

I've had it happen to me personally. I was sitting in the catering car of the enterprise one time when a guy just hit me in the head out of nowhere. I had my security bosses advice in my head from training "de-escalate, always DE-escalate, the days of us throwing people around are long over, your job is to AVOID trouble, things can go south really really fast" and I was able to deal with it in a calm way. THe staff had security waiting when the train arrived, but I was sitting reading and the guy just whacked me in the head - out of nowhere, for no reason.

It's getting out of control in the HowthJunction zone of the DART line as well, not only do we need a transport police but we need a habitual offenders law for violent crimes, I don't agree we following the US where you can clock up 3 strikes then get life (with possible parole) for stupid things like possession of drugs, but we are far too tame with violent crimes in this country.

It should be IMPOSSIBLE to rack up 20,30,40 convictions but we see it all the time. It's not the PT staffs fault, it's not the cops fault, it's the govts (all govts) fault for letting this get so bad over the years. We didn't even have mandatory life sentences for murder until sometime late in the Bertie era, and I think that only changed when juries themselves got so sick of the situation when a farmer was charged with murder for shooting a fleeing intruder that they engaged in jury nullification and ruled him not guilty even though on point of law he was, the jury basically had to rebel to get the law changed and even that was only after he'd launched an appeal when the previous jury was told they could not do that...and even today things that are clearly murder are charged as manslaughter. They know they can walk it.

dhaughton99 · 18-12-2018 1:10am

I was passing the depot earlier today and I noticed that the warehouse, which is up for sale next door, is fire damaged at the front. Dublin coach were parking buses in the car park of the building and one must have gone up. There’s a Setra with a large amount of internal fire damage out in the front of DC depot and a lot of glass swept into the grass beside the path. They must have been told not to park there anymore as just after passing again and no buses no longer being parked in there. Someone also must have said something to them about the gate to the warehouse. They would keep this large gate open out onto the path, which blocked pedestrian access, and you’d have to walk through into the grass verge. I noticed that they now have the gates properly opened and locked to the fence.

Farfromhome02 · 19-12-2018 3:44am

They seem to consistently advertise for drivers

The drivers reviews on indeed seem to suggest why

patrickc · 20-12-2018 12:38am

Farfromhome02 wrote: »

They seem to consistently advertise for drivers

The drivers reviews on indeed seem to suggest why

very interesting reviews

Stephen15 · 20-12-2018 12:58am

Seriously when is the NTA going to take action against this shower of cowboys

_Kaiser_ · 20-12-2018 1:04am

Stephen15 wrote: »

Seriously when is the NTA going to take action against this shower of cowboys

Likely only when there's a serious incident and public outcry forcing the politicians into doing something I'm afraid.

It's how we do things in Ireland. Look at the reaction to the eviction in Roscommon and swift moves to regulate private security etc. Latest of many such cases.

WishUWereHere · 20-12-2018 7:44am

patrickc wrote: »

very interesting reviews

Hi, what's the link to read these reviews please

howiya · 20-12-2018 10:49am

WishUWereHere wrote: »

Hi, what's the link to read these reviews please

https://ie.indeed.com/cmp/Dublin-Coach/reviews

Truckermal · 20-12-2018 6:54pm

howiya wrote: »

https://ie.indeed.com/cmp/Dublin-Coach/reviews

Lol all the negative comments were marked helpful by 15 people where positive reviews were marked unhelpful...:D

Farfromhome02 · 20-12-2018 7:01pm

Truckermal wrote: »

Lol all the negative comments were marked helpful by 15 people where positive reviews were marked unhelpful...:D

Few of them 5 star reviews are too well written to be drivers haha

punisher5112 · 20-12-2018 7:05pm

I've just thanked all the real ones and thumbs down the bad ones.

Everyone on here should do the same.

Shambles of an operation if you could call it an operation....

devnull · 20-12-2018 7:30pm

Their Tripadvisor reviews are also interesting
https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g186605-d7688592-Reviews-Dublin_Coach-Dublin_County_Dublin.html

Noticeable that a fair few of the 5 star ones are from people who haven't reviewed anything else.

WishUWereHere · 20-12-2018 9:40pm

devnull wrote: »

Their Tripadvisor reviews are also interesting
https://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g186605-d7688592-Reviews-Dublin_Coach-Dublin_County_Dublin.html

Noticeable that a fair few of the 5 star ones are from people who haven't reviewed anything else.

Thanks for this link DN. I never thought Tripadvisor would lower their standards so far as to even list Dublin Coach. We used to use them everytime we were heading for the Airport...€10/pp from Newbridge to Cloghran...couldn't beat it. BUT last year the bus was almost an hour late...july day and the inside was like an oven, and at the same time, the stench of deisel in the luggage storage area was overpowering. We stopped, and decided that driving there under our own steam is far better.

On the TA comments I had a good laugh reading the comment on 11 October and DC's response...driver changeover due to tachograph regulations. I am amazed they even know what a tacho is. I also notice they are VERY selective in what comments they reply to, and they haven't made any comment for 5 weeks (as I type ).

60schild · 20-12-2018 10:49pm

I had the misfortune to work for this crowd. I lasted 3 weeks before handing in my notice. I broke down 4 times in that period. Back luggage doors should have an Alarm on them if they are left open, often they didn't work. A working day of around 11 hours, after counting up money and all, with three 45 minute breaks. Schedule very hard to keep too. Same schedule time at night as in the rush hour. Buses constantly with out air conditioning or heat. Badly maintained buses. I had concerns about the standard and safety and the workload and hassle of it all so left. I refused to take bus out on two occasions because wasn't road legal. To be fair had no problem from company for this, not pressured to take the bus out.
I drive for another company now and am relieved to do so. I often wonder how these buses pass DOE , my car fails NCT for much less some of the problems with these buses.

XPS_Zero · 22-12-2018 1:04am

"
A fast growing and healthy environment with lot of learning opportunities"

HR managers whos soul has long since died on the alter of corporate culture and lingo talk like that, real people, esp employees, don't talk like that.

TallGlass · 22-12-2018 1:14am

'Then a minor accident on the n7 route pulled into the office over it even though it was not my fault and sacked'

Are the RSA, NTA and the Garda just going to stand by and wait for these clowns to literally kill a bus load of people?

The licence needs to be ****ing revoked ASAP if you ask me, they have had more than enough time to get the house in order.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime · 22-12-2018 1:31am

TallGlass wrote: »

'Then a minor accident on the n7 route pulled into the office over it even though it was not my fault and sacked'

Are the RSA, NTA and the Garda just going to stand by and wait for these clowns to literally kill a bus load of people?

The licence needs to be ****ing revoked ASAP if you ask me, they have had more than enough time to get the house in order.

The NTA won't interfere with them

I've a feeling it's because Dublin coach are actually carrying so many people that if they got closed down, the NTA wouldn't know what to do to get extra services out there, because their routes are not PSO and not funded.

Bus Eireann wouldn't be able to cope either and go ahead don't come into this situation at the moment.

I'd say that's why they're being left there

TallGlass · 22-12-2018 1:40am

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

The NTA won't interfere with them

I've a feeling it's because Dublin coach are actually carrying so many people that if they got closed down, the NTA wouldn't know what to do to get extra services out there, because their routes are not PSO and not funded.

Bus Eireann wouldn't be able to cope either and go ahead don't come into this situation at the moment.

I'd say that's why they're being left there

It amazing, really is it's plain to see to anyone seeing one of these buses, they are clearly not fit to be on the road. Yet it's a mockery to road safety.

As you say, the others can't cope, so until one comes along and kills a few people, then nothing will change, I just hope I am not caught up in the mess and incident. Sad to say, it's a sooner rather than later logic at play here.

Stephen15 · 22-12-2018 1:52am

Imagine the war there would be if DB, BE or GAI were operating buses in the state that Dublin Coach were. But yet DC get away with it.

XPS_Zero · 22-12-2018 7:17pm

Stephen15 wrote: »

Imagine the war there would be if DB, BE or GAI were operating buses in the state that Dublin Coach were. But yet DC get away with it.

Is there no bus version of the NCT?
Who conducts it?

How are they passing?

Are they actually passing? There is an enormous amount of cash changing hands with regards bus contracts in Ireland and I dont' mean settling bills, so perhaps something like that is possible here but it seems like anyone doing that would have to be incredibly lacking in conscience to put the lives of a lot of people in danger.

If they are actually passing is the criteria good enough?

AlekSmart · 23-12-2018 12:17am

XPS_Zero wrote: »

Is there no bus version of the NCT?
Who conducts it?
How are they passing?
Are they actually passing? There is an enormous amount of cash changing hands with regards bus contracts in Ireland and I dont' mean settling bills, so perhaps something like that is possible here but it seems like anyone doing that would have to be incredibly lacking in conscience to put the lives of a lot of people in danger.

If they are actually passing is the criteria good enough?

There is,and it is far from an easy-pass.

https://www.cvrt.ie/en/Pages/default.aspx

In addition the RSA have a dedicated path for making a (confidential) complaint relating to CVRT/Roadworthiness,which may well provide somewhat better resukts than the Boards.ie route ?

https://www.cvrt.ie/en/Operator-Driver-Obligations/Pages/Make-a-confidential-complaint-.aspx

KyussB · 23-12-2018 8:31am

In principal, could a determined enough person just hang about one of their bus stops, document and picture/video all the issues with roadworthyness, and the drivers response - and then go to talk directly with an RSA official as described above, and/or an NTA official if they are responsible for the PSO, and record their response to the issues raised?

Then if the response is not good enough, contact a handful of people with the worst stories to tell about Dublin Coach (should be piss easy...), find some journalists interested in paying off for a tip on the news (should be worth their while and money) and pretty much hand them a ready-made story?

It'd take effort on behalf of a person - but it'd be an effective way to try and force the hand of the authorities responsible - or publicly cover them in shite for abdicating their responsibility.

I've a strong suspicion a blind eye is being turned - and that this is a big indication that further moves towards privatizing presently state-run services, will include a very big dose of crapification along the way, with little oversight.

dhaughton99 · 23-12-2018 10:28am

KyussB wrote: »

......

Then if the response is not good enough, contact a handful of people with the worst stories to tell about Dublin Coach (should be piss easy...), find some journalists interested in paying off for a tip on the news (should be worth their while and money) and pretty much hand them a ready-made story?

It'd take effort on behalf of a person - but it'd be an effective way to try and force the hand of the authorities responsible - or publicly cover them in shite for abdicating their responsibility.

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/2057937691

friendlyfun · 23-12-2018 10:30am

Never had a negative experience with them. Maybe they could get sockets and a toilet in some of their buses though.

devnull · 23-12-2018 10:32am

friendlyfun wrote: »

Never had a negative experience with them. Maybe they could get sockets and a toilet in some of their buses though.

I'm guessing you've used the Belfast route only?

TallGlass · 24-12-2018 2:28pm

KyussB wrote: »

In principal, could a determined enough person just hang about one of their bus stops, document and picture/video all the issues with roadworthyness, and the drivers response - and then go to talk directly with an RSA official as described above, and/or an NTA official if they are responsible for the PSO, and record their response to the issues raised?

Then if the response is not good enough, contact a handful of people with the worst stories to tell about Dublin Coach (should be piss easy...), find some journalists interested in paying off for a tip on the news (should be worth their while and money) and pretty much hand them a ready-made story?

It'd take effort on behalf of a person - but it'd be an effective way to try and force the hand of the authorities responsible - or publicly cover them in shite for abdicating their responsibility.

I've a strong suspicion a blind eye is being turned - and that this is a big indication that further moves towards privatizing presently state-run services, will include a very big dose of crapification along the way, with little oversight.

It will end up of two ways, either people are killed on one of the buses or it ends up on RTE's Prime Time investigates.

If a CVRT, is been passed on some of the busses (I assume some are roadworthy), then who ever is passing the CVRT is more than likely doing it for other vehicles. If I remember, this is the entire reason the NCT system was keep under control of one body, for some reason they took that away from commercials.

I always found it bizzare too that state vechiles are not tested for faults, Garda etc..

Motorcycles should also be tested.

Old diesel · 24-12-2018 4:07pm

Is it possible to check the CVRT status of a vehicle reg number in the same way you can do it with NCTs??????

Old diesel · 24-12-2018 4:15pm

There is a reg checker on CVRT - i ran a Dublin Coach 12 KE Setra i found via flickr through it - and its tested to April 2019.

Registered as a Mercedes Benz incidentally

Heres the reg checker

https://operator.cvrt.ie/Vehicle/CRWExpiryTestReminder

Edit - ran a 2nd Dublin coach reg through that and that has a 2019 test as well

NedNew2 · 24-12-2018 4:33pm

It's not perfect but it offers a comprehensive timetable and service at low prices.

It appears to be compliant. So I suppose if you don't like it then don't use it.

From my location I now have half hourly buses and a 24 hour service for less than half the price and twice as fast as the equivalent Bus Eireann service.

devnull · 24-12-2018 4:38pm

NedNew2 wrote: »

It's not perfect but it offers a comprehensive timetable and service at low prices.

It appears to be compliant. So I suppose if you don't like it then don't use it.

The RSA didn't seem to think so earlier in the year:
http://www.rsa.ie/en/Utility/News/2018/Fines-totalling-11000-for-two-road-passenger-bus-operators-for-breach-of-road-safety-regulations/

Following investigations by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), both Citi Bus Limited and Last Bus Limited of Moorhill House, Brannockstown, Co Kildare trading as Dublin Coach were before Naas District Court for breaches of tachograph and drivers’ hours regulations. Both companies operate a road passenger business.

Citi Bus Limited, on 5 February, 2018, pleaded guilty to six charges of failing to produce and handover records at the request of an RSA Transport Officer as well as charges of failing to make regular checks and failing to organise drivers’ work to ensure compliance with the regulations, failing to download vehicle units and failing to ensure the tachograph equipment was functioning correctly. The Court convicted on the six charges and fined Citi Bus Limited a total of €6,000 and also made an award of costs against the company bringing the total sanction imposed in excess of €7,700.

Last Bus Limited, on 5 March, 2018, pleaded guilty to six charges of cause and purport to authorise the driver to fail to take a daily rest period and to exceed daily driving as well as charges for failing to make regular checks. The Court convicted on the six charges and fined Last Bus Limited a total of €5,000 an award of costs was also made against the company bringing the total sanction imposed in excess of €5,500.

road_high · 24-12-2018 4:42pm

I think Dublin Coach are dreadful but could be a brilliant service if they actually invested in the buses and staff. I too would be worried if they were shut down as living in Kilkenny they ran BE off the Dublin route and carry a substantial number of people that would be left high and dry without them.
The buses are something to behold though- dirty, smelly, old, run down, and either cold or too hot !

Old diesel · 24-12-2018 4:49pm

NedNew2 wrote: »

It's not perfect but it offers a comprehensive timetable and service at low prices.

It appears to be compliant. So I suppose if you don't like it then don't use it.

From my location I now have half hourly buses and a 24 hour service for less than half the price and twice as fast as the equivalent Bus Eireann service.

All the reg checker shows is that the reg checked has been through a test.

It tells us nothing about how deligently the test was done.

I think experience shows us that the likes of Callinan Coaches for Citylink, Gobus and Gobe under Jim Burke - and the Kavanagh outfits - JJ Kavanagh, Pierce Kavanagh, Bernard Kavanagh run coaches to a superior standard.

Youve also go Bus Fada, McGuinley in Donegal, Collins from up around Monaghan and Matthews who are north East based - all running regional routes into main citys from the area they are based

Apart from GoBe - NONE of the above have a Bus Eireann connection.

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