Dublin Bus route 46a

S Barrett

How many buses would work the 46a route at peak times?

Michael D Not Higgins

15-20

S Barrett

I was driving past Connyham Rd bus garage on Friday and noticed that the 46a drivers turn around in the garage and head back out. Is the 46a still a Donnybrook bus or do some of them work out of Connyham Rd?

Michael D Not Higgins

Phoenix Park is the terminus so I think the garage is just a convenient place to turn around for the return leg. Not sure about that although I'm sure someone else could clarify.

dfx-

Some of them used to turn in and out of C/Rd garage and back up Infirmary Rd instead of just turning right onto Infirmary Rd.

Now I think it's a new policy so to speak of turning around behind the 26/66/67 stop on Parkgate Street. Every 46A is a Donnybrook bus, bar the odd returning 41X, 32X etc bus coming back from Belfield in the morning.

When the 46A operated to Mountjoy Square, you might see a VT going into Summerhill Garage (which has no VTs) to take their breaks. There's a great photo of one coming out of Summerhill.

StreetLight

The 46A uses either Parkgate Street or Conyngham Road Garage because buses at the usual turn-around point at O'Devaney Gardens were regularly being pelted with stones by the locals.

S Barrett

dfx- wrote: »

Some of them used to turn in and out of C/Rd garage and back up Infirmary Rd instead of just turning right onto Infirmary Rd.

Now I think it's a new policy so to speak of turning around behind the 26/66/67 stop on Parkgate Street. Every 46A is a Donnybrook bus, bar the odd returning 41X, 32X etc bus coming back from Belfield in the morning.

When the 46A operated to Mountjoy Square, you might see a VT going into Summerhill Garage (which has no VTs) to take their breaks. There's a great photo of one coming out of Summerhill.

I saw one standing at that stop on Parkgate Street as well. It must be up to the driver whether to turn on Parkgate St. or in the garage. Is the 46a the busiest route in Dublin now?

dfx-

Hard to judge because of the frequency and overlap of routes. It is the most frequent, I'd guess. You could easily get a full VT on the 46A or completely empty because there's one in front and a 145 in front as well.

I'd say the Lucan corridor or group of routes wouldn't be far off, given the number of VTs that operate in peak hours to supplement the regular services. A busy 13 can carry 200 people in a round trip.

stehyl15

It would make sense too me if the 39a and the 46a swapped garages because the pheonix park is quite near phibsboro garage and ucd is near donnybrook well its nearer than blanchardstown is to phibsboro and dun laoghaire is to donnybrook

LXFlyer

stehyl15 wrote: »

It would make sense too me if the 39a and the 46a swapped garages because the pheonix park is quite near phibsboro garage and ucd is near donnybrook well its nearer than blanchardstown is to phibsboro and dun laoghaire is to donnybrook

For goodness sakes buses start and finish at BOTH ends of the route.

Donnybrook is roughly halfway between Phoenix Park and Dun Laoghaire.

Phibsboro is reasonably placed for buses starting in Ongar and UCD.

The current set up is far more preferable.

LXFlyer

The peak vehicle requirement on the 46a (which includes the 47) is closer to 30.

S Barrett

I stayed in a hotel near Liffey Valley last weekend. I saw a few 40`s go by and they had very little passengers on them. That was a busy route when it went from town out to Finglas.

Also the 26 to Palmerstown seems to have a low patronage as well.

Am I right in saying this?

LXFlyer

S Barrett wrote: »

I stayed in a hotel near Liffey Valley last weekend. I saw a few 40`s go by and they had very little passengers on them. That was a busy route when it went from town out to Finglas.

Also the 26 to Palmerstown seems to have a low patronage as well.

Am I right in saying this?

You are judging a route by the loadings between the second last and last stops?

Hardly indicative.

The 40 is a very busy route through its core sections - of course it will have lighter loadings towards the end of the route.

The 26 would have a lower usage off-peak, but acts as a sweeper service along the Lucan QBC in the peak periods.

Michael D Not Higgins

lxflyer wrote: »

The peak vehicle requirement on the 46a (which includes the 47) is closer to 30.

How is the 47 included? That wasn't part of the question he asked.

I worked it out from an 8 minute headway and a journey time of 61 mins each way. That works out to rougly 8 each direction (16) and maybe one or two at each terminus to account for delays (16-20).

LXFlyer

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

How is the 47 included? That wasn't part of the question he asked.

I worked it out from an 8 minute headway and a journey time of 61 mins each way. That works out to rougly 8 each direction (16) and maybe one or two at each terminus to account for delays (16-20).

The 46a and 47 share common driver/bus boards.

They are treated as a combined route.

The 46a alone would have 25 boards. The journey time is significantly longer than 61 minutes at peak times.

S Barrett

If the 46a is the busiest route in Dublin, what is the least busiest route?

Are all the Dublin Bus routes based in one depot only or do garages share routes? I lived for a while in Sydney and some routes there were shared by up to 3 depots.

Victor

S Barrett wrote: »

If the 46a is the busiest route in Dublin, what is the least busiest route?

The 86 - one bus a day and it isn't in the public timetable.

Are all the Dublin Bus routes based in one depot only or do garages share routes? I lived for a while in Sydney and some routes there were shared by up to 3 depots.

I get the impression that some merged routes are shared, e.g the 14 seems to be shared by Donnybrook and Clontarf.

LXFlyer

Least busy route is probably the 161.

The 13, 14, 15, 27, and 40 all operate out of two depots.

All of the other routes operate out of single depots.

LXFlyer

Victor wrote: »

The 86 - one bus a week and it isn't in the public timetable.

I get the impression that some merged routes are shared, e.g the 14 seems to be shared by Donnybrook and Clontarf.

Where and when are you seeing this 86 Victor?

The 14 is shared between Donnybrook and Summerhill, not Clontarf.

S Barrett

The 15 must be the longest cross town bus route in Dublin. 20 buses must work this route at any given time.

S Barrett

Is there some site that lets you know which bus route is attached to which garage?

LXFlyer

Not any more - they used to be listed at the bottom of each timetable, but with centralised control that's no longer necessary.

What specifically do you want to know?

stehyl15

S Barrett wrote: »

If the 46a is the busiest route in Dublin, what is the least busiest route?

I would say the least busy route with an all day timetable is the 59 or the 114 the 59 is an awful route it goes into every hole in the hedge and is almost a full loop the 145 nearly if not busier than the 46a if you were too go on a 145 at midday it would have a good few people on it however the 46a would be almost empty

dfx-

S Barrett wrote: »

The 15 must be the longest cross town bus route in Dublin. 20 buses must work this route at any given time.

15 benefits from bus lanes particularly on the northside.

13 would be longer in my opinion

Losty Dublin

S Barrett wrote: »

The 15 must be the longest cross town bus route in Dublin. 20 buses must work this route at any given time.

The 27 and 44 would both give it a run for it's money.

stehyl15

The 33 is the longest route in dublin no questions needed to be asked

S Barrett

lxflyer wrote: »

Not any more - they used to be listed at the bottom of each timetable, but with centralised control that's no longer necessary.

What specifically do you want to know?

I want to know all the routes home depot.

dfx-

stehyl15 wrote: »

The 33 is the longest route in dublin no questions needed to be asked

Not cross city though. The 44 would be surely longest..

stehyl15

lxflyer wrote: »

The 46a and 47 share common driver/bus boards.

They are treated as a combined route.

The 46a alone would have 25 boards. The journey time is significantly longer than 61 minutes at peak times.

The 63 and the 75 seem to share buses as many inbound 75s change to outbound 63s when they get too dl

LXFlyer

stehyl15 wrote: »

The 63 and the 75 seem to share buses as many inbound 75s change to outbound 63s when they get too dl

Completely different routes and garages.

63 is Donnybrook 1 and 75 is Donnybrook 2.

Is the 46A shared between Donnybrook and Phibsboro? I thought I saw some Phibsboro VTs on the 46A at times.

stehyl15

lxflyer wrote: »

Completely different routes and garages.

63 is Donnybrook 1 and 75 is Donnybrook 2.

ive found 75 tickets on the 63 issused on the same day and since were there two garages in donnybrook

LXFlyer

A 63 driver may have taken a 75 bus in error at Dun Laoghaire.

But as I said above, the two routes are operated by completely different pools of drivers from Donnybrook 1 and Donnybrook 2 depots, and on completely separate driver/bus boards.

LXFlyer

Karsini wrote: »

Is the 46A shared between Donnybrook and Phibsboro? I thought I saw some Phibsboro VTs on the 46A at times.

The 46a and 47 operate from Donnybrook 2.

There may be "Euro" duties from other depots that may also support it from time to time as part of their rosters.

stehyl15

lxflyer wrote: »

A 63 driver may have taken a 75 bus in error at Dun Laoghaire.

But as I said above, the two routes are operated by completely different pools of drivers from Donnybrook 1 and Donnybrook 2 depots, and on completely separate driver/bus boards.

yea i get what you mean maybe there was a shortage of drivers or buses or as you said above

dfx-

Are the 05 VTs de-restricted from the 46A? VT13 used to be the only one that could display the 145 and nothing else, now you can see a few.

With the amount of GTs on the 46A recently and 07 VTs on the 145, are the 05s to finally move off..

KD345

In addition to the list of routes above, there are other routes which have euro duties built into their schedule. Routes like the 37, 38, 39, 41, 43 have parts of their timetable operated by Harristown. Some of the 25s and 66s have peak time departures run by Broadstone.

The 33X is operated by three depots - Summerhill, Broadstone and Harristown.

S Barrett

KD345 wrote: »

In addition to the list of routes above, there are other routes which have euro duties built into their schedule. Routes like the 37, 38, 39, 41, 43 have parts of their timetable operated by Harristown. Some of the 25s and 66s have peak time departures run by Broadstone.

The 33X is operated by three depots - Summerhill, Broadstone and Harristown.

Please explain the term `euro duties`.

LXFlyer

Euro duties = additional duties that operate in the morning and evening peaks - a 12 hour spreadover duty (i.e. duty lasts 12 hours but has a long break in the middle).

They can operate a mix of routes as part of the duty, and can supplement routes operated from other depots.

stehyl15

KD345 wrote: »

In addition to the list of routes above, there are other routes which have euro duties built into their schedule. Routes like the 37, 38, 39, 41, 43 have parts of their timetable operated by Harristown. Some of the 25s and 66s have peak time departures run by Broadstone.

The 33X is operated by three depots - Summerhill, Broadstone and Harristown.

i thought broadstone was only BE

LXFlyer

There are two Dublin Bus depots at Phibsboro - Phibsboro 1 and Phibsboro 2. The latter is based in Broadstone.

S Barrett

lxflyer wrote: »

There are two Dublin Bus depots at Phibsboro - Phibsboro 1 and Phibsboro 2. The latter is based in Broadstone.

My Father worked in Phibsboro as a driver. He started on the Number 10, then went to the 22`s and then the 34`s. There was only one Phibsboro back in his day and the routes mentioned above are no more.

S Barrett

KD345 wrote: »

In addition to the list of routes above, there are other routes which have euro duties built into their schedule. Routes like the 37, 38, 39, 41, 43 have parts of their timetable operated by Harristown. Some of the 25s and 66s have peak time departures run by Broadstone.

The 33X is operated by three depots - Summerhill, Broadstone and Harristown.

What garage did KD 345 work out of?

LXFlyer

S Barrett wrote: »

My Father worked in Phibsboro as a driver. He started on the Number 10, then went to the 22`s and then the 34`s. There was only one Phibsboro back in his day and the routes mentioned above are no more.

The second Phibsboro depot opened in 1999 with the large expansion of the fleet.

S Barrett

I thought that was the reason they opened Harristown. Is Harristown the biggest garage at the moment?

LXFlyer

S Barrett wrote: »

I thought that was the reason they opened Harristown. Is Harristown the biggest garage at the moment?

How many questions do you have?? ;-)

I need a rest - every answer seems to lead to another question!!!

They were both needed.

Donnybrook is the largest depot.

S Barrett

lxflyer wrote: »

How many questions do you have?? ;-)

I need a rest - every answer seems to lead to another question!!!

They were both needed.

Donnybrook is the largest depot.

I will stop now, for a while. Thank you for your prompt answers.

stehyl15

Would donnybrook be the flagship garage

Conway635

stehyl15 wrote: »

Would donnybrook be the flagship garage

I suspect the answer to that would depend on who you asked!

To me it will always be the flagship garage, not sure the company has favourites though.

The company does seem to have favoured routes however.

For a long time from the 60s to the 80s, route 19/19A were the "special baby" of the company:

* first trial of new blue & cream livery, 1961

* first route to get new modern doored buses (Atlanteans) in 1966

* first route to have an allover advertising bus (Spike) mid 70s

* the trial route for AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) computer monitoring providing real-time display (to the controllers - not the public) of bus locations along the route, 1975, featured on BBC "Tomorrow's World" as a world-leading modern bus control system (1975)

Then sometime in the 1990s, the 19s lost their favoured status, and the 46A became the new golden child

C635

AlekSmart

Conway635 wrote: »

.


* the trial route for AVL (Automatic Vehicle Location) computer monitoring providing real-time display (to the controllers - not the public) of bus locations along the route, 1975, featured on BBC "Tomorrow's World" as a world-leading modern bus control system (1975)

C635

For anybody who is interested in that era and the ability of CIE to innovate and do stuff for itself,it is worth noting that one of the last (If not THE last) parts of the original AVM (Automatic Vehicle Monitoring) system's constituent parts sits un-noticed on a lamp standard soon to be removed altogether.

The Street Lighting along the Cookstown Lane from the Belgard Inn up to Fettercairn is being replaced and new standards are now in place....yet there,sitting on the last pole before the Belgard Road junction (Inbound) is an SBD reciever.

SBD (Selective Bus Detection) was one of the spin-off elements of the AVM system and was designed to adjuct the Traffic Signal Phasing to favour Buses running late OR to delay Buses running ahead of time.

Dublin Fire Brigade and CIE equipped some of their fleets with the transponder units which communicated with the Lamp Standard mounted reciever...sadly after the initial and (AFAIK) successful trials,the AVM system was retired in favour of a digital upgrade,which was then itself delayed due to recession/lack of funding.....ah the passage of time and the learning of lessons ....:D

This long surviving evidence may well be already gone,as the pole concerned is not redundant so get there quick !!!!

dfx-

Conway635 wrote: »

Then sometime in the 1990s, the 19s lost their favoured status, and the 46A became the new golden child

C635

Would it have been around the time Cityswift came in? The 39s were the first to get that weren't they?

I always still treated the 19A as one of the big routes, in the way I don't see the 9 as now.