Throwback Thursday

This week we are going back thirty-one years to 1992 and RH 22 in Skerries. The bus is near the end of its journey on route 33 from Dublin to Skerries. CIE took over this route from the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in 1958. Between Dublin and Skerries it serves Swords, Lusk and Rush, and not Dundrum as mistakenly shown on this bus. Certain departures are extended further north to Balbriggan. Skerries Station has a shed where some buses from Summerhill Garage are out-based to operate to route. Currently Skerries is still served by the 33, as well as route 33A (Dublin Airport / Swords - Skerries / Balbriggan) operated by Go-Ahead Ireland. The 33 is the most northerly route operated by Dublin Bus.

RH 22 was new to Dublin Bus in 1990. In 2000 it became an open top tour bus, and was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 2008. 

01/06/1992

Thanks. I don't have shots of KDs with green bumpers.

I am afraid I don't remember the CitySwift RVs on 33. I didn't pay much attention back then.

This week we are going back six years to 2017 and AX 523 in Parnell Square on route 7A. The bus is in a special livery for Dublin Pride. Although Dublin Bus had been a supporter of Dublin LGBTQ Pride for a number of years, this was the first year a bus received a special livery to mark the occasion. In 2018 three buses were done up, as were three other buses in 2019. Covid-19 saw nothing happening in 2020, and in 2021 Go-Ahead Ireland wrapped a bus up which is still around today. 

Route 7A to Loughlinstown Park started in 2016 when the two branches of route 7 were given their own route numbers. Traditionally the 7 went to Loughlinstown Park, but it was decided instead to assign that number to the Brides Glen variation of the route. 

AX 523 was new to Dublin Bus in 2006. It was withdrawn around 2019 and sold on to an operator in the UK. 

22/06/2017

This week we are going back a mere 16 years to 2007, and VL 4 in Dun Laoghaire on route 111. VL 4 was one of five buses delivered to Dublin Bus between 1997 and 1998. They were low-floor Volvo buses with Alexander bodies. Following on from the W-Class minibuses delivered in 1994, these were the next step in the evolution of the Dublin Bus fleet as it moved towards low-floor, accessible buses. Initially used on routes 1,2 and 3, departures in the timetable were highlighted in red so people could know when the low-floor buses would be operating. The buses were also delivered in a proposed livery that was not adopted fleet-wide. They were later repainted into the standard fleet livery, before ending their days in the yellow / blue livery. They also spent their final years on the local routes in Dun Laoghaire, as seen here. They were withdrawn in 2009, and VL 2 - 5 were sold on to an operator in Scotland.

Route 111 started in 1986 as one of the DART Feeder services, operating between Loughlinstown Park and Dun Laoghaire Station. It started off as relatively high-frequency service, but was cut back over the years. In 2009 it became peak-hour only, but in 2016 was completely revamped. Running hourly, seven days a week, it was extended at each end to Brides Glen and Dalkey. In 2018, Go-Ahead Ireland took over the operation of the route. 

05/07/2007

This week we are going back twenty-five years to 1998, and to RH 139 on Marlborough Street. The bus is dressed for route 20A.  This route started running between the city centre and Donnycarney North in 1948, and was an off-shoot of route 20. These routes (along with the 20B) went via Fairview and the Malahide Road. In 1997 the 20A was cut back to just a handful of departures, becoming a derivative of the 20B in the process. The route finally ceased to operate in 1999, with the 20B lasting until 2011. A definitive history of the route can be found here: http://dublinbusstuff.com/Routes20.html

RH 139 was new to Dublin Bus in 1992. It was withdrawn in 2006 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom.

20/07/1998

This week we are going back twenty-two years to 1991 and KD 126 on O'Connell Street. The bus is operating a service on route 19A to McKee Road. This route started running between Rialto and Ballymun Avenue in 1940. In 1967 it was extended north to Cedarwood Road, and around 1989 was extended west to Bulfin Road in Inchicore. Around 1990 it's northern terminus was moved to McKee Road and by 1996 its southern terminus was pulled back to Kelly's Corner. 2001 saw the route changed to run from Jamestown Road to Limekiln Avenue, and remained as such until 2011 when the route was replaced by new route 9 under Network Direct. 

KD 126 was new to CIE in 1982. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in the late-1990s.

The bus is in an all-over ad for the Sunday World newspaper. This paper was first published in March 1973.

This part of O'Connell Street no longer has bus stops, and a number of fast-food restaurants have taken over the premises in the background. 

03/08/1991

This week we are going back a decade to 2013 and AV 388 at the route 161 terminus at Rockbrook / Tibradden.

Route 161 started in 1999 as part of the changes that saw the removal of routes 47/A/B from the network. Initially it operated from Nutgrove Shopping Centre to Rockbrook via Whitechurch. In 2011 the terminus was moved from Nutgrove to interchange at the Luas stop in Dundrum. The 161 was not a very frequent route and when Go-Ahead Ireland took it over in 2019 it was only operating in the peak hours during the week. The Go-Ahead Ireland version of the route still only operates Monday - Friday, but operates throughout the day between 7am and 7pm (approximately). Dublin Bus used to operate the route down Tibradden Road to this point in the photograph near Marlay Park, but Go-Ahead only go as far as Rockbrook itself. 

AV 388 was new to Dublin Bus in 2004. It was withdrawn around 2018 and moved to another Irish operator in 2019.  

09/08/2013

Another trip back twelve years this week to 2011 and to route 15. 

RV 478 is seen on Dawson Street with a service to Eden Quay. 

Route 15 started running between the city centre and Scholarstown Road in 1988. In December 2011 it merged with route 128, which happens to be the service behind RV 478 on Dawson Street. Route 128 ran between Clongriffin and Rathmines, and when the routes merged, the 15 became a cross-city route from Clongriffin to Stocking Avenue. The section of route 128 to Palmertson Park on the southside became part of route 140.  

In January 2015, route 15 (along with other routes) was diverted away from Dawson Street and sent along South Great George's Street instead due to Luas Cross-City works. Trams now travel up and down the road where the buses are in the photograph.

RV 478 was new to Dublin Bus in 1999. It was withdrawn around December 2011 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom in 2012.  

25/08/2011

This week we are going back eleven years to 2012 and RV 602 on route 15B. This Volvo Olympian bus was new to Dublin Bus in 1999. It was withdrawn in October 2012 (a month after this photograph was taken), and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom. 

Route 15B started running between the city centre and Templeogue in 1952. In 1978 it reached Ballyroan, and in 2007 it was extended to Whitechurch. Since 2011 it has terminated on Stocking Avenue, and at that time the city terminus moved to the Grand Canal Dock area too. However, in 2021 it was cut back to Merrion Square. 

The bus is seen exiting Church Lane onto College Green. The corridor from Dawson Street to College Green via Nassau Street, Suffolk Street and Church Lane was a major artery for cross-city bus routes for many decades. That ended in 2015, when Luas Cross-City works saw bus routes diverted away from Suffolk Street. Now no bus routes use Church Lane or Suffolk Street. 

05/09/2012

This week we are going back fourteen years to 2009, and to VT 33 in Skerries on route 33X. Route 33X was an Xpresso route that started operating between Skerries and Dublin city centre (later UCD) around 2000. It was not a long-lived route and ceased to operate in 2002. It then made a return in 2007, using the M1 motorway from Lissenhall (north of Swords) and the Dublin Port Tunnel. When it came back it was not a very frequent route, with one departure in each direction, Monday - Friday. That changed in August 2009, when part of the viaduct at Malahide Estuary collapsed, and the railway line into Dublin from Drogheda / Belfast was closed. An emergency timetable saw a 33X running nearly every ten minutes in the mornings and evenings, with some during the day too. When the railway line reopened in November 2009, the 33X retained a good service frequency and today in 2023 it has about five return trips eeach weekday. 2009 also saw the evening departures from the city operate to Balbriggan (as the buses went via Balbriggan from Skerries to access the motorway on their return trips to the garage). As part of the expansion in services during the railway line closure, nearly every Dublin Bus garage provided buses to operate these services. This is how a tri-axle VT that was normally found on the Blanchardstown / Lucan routes ended up in north County Dublin. VTs became very common on the 33X for a while. VT 33 in this pictures was actually working into Dublin and not to Skerries as the destination suggests.

VT 33 was new to Dublin Bus in 2007. Originally allocated to Phibsoro Garage, in 2010 VT 21 - 35 moved to Donnybrook Garage as part of Network Direct changes to routes 46A and 145. VT 33 was withdrawn from service around December 2021.

14/09/2009

For our four-hundredth Throwback we are going back forty years to D 400 on Eden Quay. The bus is dressed for route 6. This route started operating between the city centre and Blackrock in 1949, terminating at Castlebyrne Park from 1966. In 1975 it was extended up the Link Road to Abbey Park. The route ceased to operate in 1989. However a new route 6 between the city centre and Howth (going via Shielmartin Road) started in 2021 as part of Bus Connects. 

D 400 was new to CIE in 1971. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus at then end of 1987 and sold for scrap.

The ad on the front of the bus is for CDL coal distributors. These were taken over by Bord na Mona in 1995. 

18/02/1983

This week we are going back fifteen years to RV 422 passing the main entrance to UCD Belfield with a service on route 7B to Dublin city centre.

This Volvo Olympian was new to Dublin Bus in 1998. It was withdrawn in 2009 and sold on to an operator in the United Kingdom. 

Route 7B started running between Shankill and the city centre in 2001. This was a weekday, peak-only route. Whereas the traditional route 7 reached the city centre by going along the Rock Road, this route and the 7D, which started around the same time, made use of the Stillorgan QBC. The route still runs today.

University College Dublin (UCD) started its move from the city centre to Belfield campus in 1964 when the Faculty of Science opened. Since then the campus has grown a lot, and the university is the largest in Ireland. 

06/10/2008

This week we are going back twenty-four years to 1999, to a bus that has featured here before, on the same route and in the same location. Except this time there is a better view of the bus. 99 D 73675 is seen in Ringsend and was a DAF Plaxton demonstrator built in 1997. Converted to run on liquified petroleum gas, it was trialled with a few operators in the United Kingdom (as P10 LPG) as well as Dublin Bus. After it returned to the United Kingdom, it was converted to diesel power and operated with Arriva until around 2013. 

The bus is operating a service on route 3 to Larkhill, although the destination blind is missing the "h". Route 3 started operating between Whitehall / Larkhill and Sandymount in 1940. For its final twenty years or so of operation, certain departures were extended to / from UCD Belfield. The route was partially replaced on the by new route 1 in 2012 which covered the southside leg through Ringsend and Sandymount. In 2021 this part of the routing was replaced by routes C1 and C2.  

Ringsend, 19/10/1999

Yes the bus with windows in ceiling was real:

https://flic.kr/p/Fkm8ZZ

2012 finds AV 374 arriving into the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre with a service on route 220 to Lady's Well Road. This route started running between Lady's Well Road / Ladywswell Road, in Mulhuddartl, and Finglas around 1989. In 1990 it was extended east to Ballymun. Although route 17A also connected Blanchardstown, Finglas and Ballymun, it went a more direct way than the 220 which also served Finglas South and Poppintree. In 2019 Go-Ahead Ireland took over the operation of the route, and it was extended to DCU. 

AV 374 was new to Dublin Bus in 2004. This ALX400 was withdrawn in 2017 and sold on to another Irish operator in 2018.  

02/11/2012

This week we are going back thirty-five years to 1988 and to LD 1 in St. Stephen's Green on route 44. This bus was a Leyland Olympian demonstrator sent to Dublin Bus for evaluation, along with an MCW Metrobus. Even though the latter went to the effort of painting their bus in Dublin Bus livery, the Olympian eventually won out. Dublin Bus went on to order 640 Olympians, delivered between 1990 and 1999, with the final one withdrawn in 2012. The Dublin Bus vehicles did have a different body style though compared to that of the demonstrator. LD 1 went on to the Isle of Man before reaching Solent Blue Line in Southampton in 1990. In 2008 it moved to York Pullman and it seems around 2012 it was withdrawn, though still existed in some form in 2017.  

The DUTC started running route 44 between the city centre and Enniskerry in 1936. In 2012, Dublin Bus extended it to Larkhill replacing route 3 on the northside. In 2014 it was extended slightly further to Dublin City University (DCU).

15/11/1988

This week we are going back forty-one years to 1982 and to D 397 on Burgh Quay. The bus is dressed for route 62. This route started operating in 1936, being extended from Goatstown to Kilmacud in 1962, and to Beaufield Park (behind the Stillorgan Shopping Centre) in 1966. The route ceased to operate in 1999 when it was replaced by an extended route 11. 

D 397 was new to CIE in 1971 and was withdrawn in 1985. 

29/11/1982

This week we are going back twenty-eight years to 1995 and to RH 47 on Earlsfort Terrace with a service on route 48A. This route started running between the city centre and Goatstown in 1928. In 1933 it was extended to Ballinteer, going via Milltown and Dundrum. Its last terminus within Ballinteer was at Broadford, which it served from 1978 to 2011. In that latter year the route ceased to operate when it was replaced by routes 14 and 61 under Network Direct.

RH 47 was new to Dublin Bus in 1990 and was withdrawn in 2002. The following year it was sold to an operator in the United Kingdom, and it was eventually scrapped in 2015.

The KD on route 14A behind the RH is advertising Mariah Carey. The year before this photograph was taken was when she released "All I Want For Christmas Is You". The 14A also terminated in Ballinteer between August 1995 and November 2005, but it went via Rathmines.   

12/12/1995