Commuting from Balbriggan to Dublin

marykat749 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Myself and my partner are thinking about buying a house in Balbriggan. I work in the city centre, near Baggot St. and would like to hear of people's experiences of commuting from Balbriggan to the city centre. How are the buses (101x, 33 etc) and trains? Are they frequent enough? Are they always full? Would you always get a seat or not? If I was able to get a seat and work on the train that would be a big plus for me. I have a car and could drive some days, so it would be good to hear how people find the drive too, although I prefer the idea of public transport. Google maps tells me the drive is only 35 minutes, but is that accurate during rush hour?

I know Balbriggan isn't the most sought after location, but with our budget of €200,000, it's about all we can afford.

Thanks!

Depends what time you would be leaving at? But rush hour you wouldn't be doing it in 35 mins. Covid might change things though. Less people on buses, less people having to commute to work etc. Take a day off work and drive to balbriggan and then drive to town at the time you expect to be leaving at would be my advice.

marykat749 wrote: »

I work in the city centre, near Baggot St.

I used to do the commute at off peak times (very late at night or early morning) from Balbriggan to near O' Connell Street and it would take me about 40- 45 minutes. I would say you should easily double it for rush hour.

Up until March i would have been getting the train every day. I would very rarely not get a seat, though on the train i took you would need to stand in the right place to get one. Also, getting on at Pearse you have your best chance of a seat on the way back. There were earlier trains that had better availability though. I work near leeson St and would never consider driving in, but maybe that's just me. Of course you'd have some delays from time to time but I found them reasonably reliable. No idea what timetable like at the moment or when it'll be back to normal but there would be additional trains at rush hour, but then about one an hour outside of that and at non peak times / weekends you'd have to change at Connolly, which is annoying.

Driving to City North , parking there and getting the Matthews bus from there is very doable . Drive is less than 10 mins then about 30 mins on the bus .
More or less guaranteed a seat .

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thats what I had thought, even though the OP would be driving backwards in the wrong direction at least when they get it it flys up the M1 into the Port Tunnel and is in the city centre in no time. Equally the Swords Express might be just as quick.

The traffic can be backed up beyond exit 7 a couple of times a week due to an accident or whatever. I think driving back on yourself is madness TBH. The 101 Express goes through the Port Tunnel as well. You could park opposite the church in Balbriggan for free and catch it at the church bus stop. I've no clue of how busy it gets though.

John Hutton wrote: »

Be careful with Balbriggan, on my opinion it is a total kip, and as someone who lives in Drogheda I think I'm pretty qualified to recognise a kip. I wouldn't live there of you paid me, there's a reason why the house prices are the same as Drogheda even though it's in County Dublin.

Didnt want to say that but its why I suggested that the OP see is there anything in Kildare within their budget. Unfortunately the long term outlook for Balbriggan as a nice place to live and bring up kids isnt great. Some parts of it are okay but the OP needs to do their research on what estates are like, they dont want to end up living next to feuding families.

If Gormanstown/Stamillen is in their budget that would be a better option even though it is further out from the city. Train station at Gormanstown too and its only a few minutes up the track from Balbriggan. .

The 101X is a great service. I haven't been on it in my weeks though. Usually took 45-55 mins from Balbriggan to Wilton Terrace depending on traffic. You're pretty much guaranteed a seat up to the stop before Wavin. If you don't get a seat you don't get on - no standing allowed on a coach service.

Hi OP,

I'm living in Balbriggan myself for the last 9 years and in one of the cheaper estates too :eek:

I commuted for most of that time on the train and pretty much always got a seat, you'll figure out where to stand to get one. I occasionally cycled into the city centre but that was an exception rather than the norm.

In regards to Balbriggan, I bought here because it's in a great location and I didn't want to be burdened with a large mortgage each month. Close enough to the city centre that it's very commutable by road, rail and bus but close to Swords and Drogheda too if you don't want to go into town but still have good shops to visit. There's also wonderful countryside too and multiple beaches.

Like anywhere there are one or two estates you wouldn't want to live on but my own, which was cheap, is lovely. I haven't experienced any serious issues in the time I've been here. People are friendly, the estate is clean with plenty of areas's for kids to play on and they are out playing each day of summer on the estate.

It's very easy to generalise about an area but I think it's better you do your own research into it rather than take advice from people who haven't lived there and possibly never even visited it to any great degree. It's not a dream destination by any measure but it's a good place to put down some roots and start building your life.

If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

Would they get a house for 200k in Balbriggan?

@OP,

Id look at Ashbourne or Swords 1st before looking at Balbriggan.