New Direct Dublin City-Kilkenny-Waterford Bus Service

smncnnr

Kilkennyfella wrote: »

Are times at weekends the same as during the week? Hoping to use this weekend.

Yes, the timetable is the same Monday to Sunday.

road_high

Seems a little smart of them to charge an extra €5 for the "convenience" of changing at Red Cow to the Airport whereas customers going to city centre just pay the €10.
Got it the other night to Dublin and bizarrely about a dozen of us were ushered off at Red cow (into the wind/rain) and told to wait for another bus to city centre ("that should be here soon"). A few minutes later the driver advised a change of plan and he'd bring us to city centre. Whole thing seemed a little amateurish and a slight waste of peoples time. Can understand them trying to double up and save on fuel costs etc but needs to be synchronised seamlessly.

Kilkennyfella

I used the service last Saturday as far as the Red Cow(a friend collected me from there as there were protests in the City Centre). The bus itself was very clean and comfortable, driver was sound too. Only thing i could fault was that the Wifi wasnt working but in saying that i didnt investigate much as to why that was, could have being something simple.

I would certainly use the service again, good value for money and great to have a direct route to Dublin.

Jamie2k9

Kilkennyfella wrote: »

I used the service last Saturday as far as the Red Cow(a friend collected me from there as there were protests in the City Centre). The bus itself was very clean and comfortable, driver was sound too. Only thing i could fault was that the Wifi wasnt working but in saying that i didnt investigate much as to why that was, could have being something simple.

I would certainly use the service again, good value for money and great to have a direct route to Dublin.

Wifi on M9 is shocking, even for mobile networks which is where buses get it.

road_high

There are defo more people using it of late. There was at least a dozen people on it. And a few got on off to/from Waterford in Kilkenny when I was using it. Word must be getting out.

catbear

I had to catch it from Limerick to Dublin once from a stop just outside Limerick but it was full so didn't stop. I rang the number on the bus stop and they said another bus was being put on to cater for the overflow. Sure enough another bus came in twenty minutes so even if it get over subscribed on any one day there shouldn't be a problem.
If they have a full bus leaving Waterford they'll probably send second bus straight to Kilkenny!

masterboy123

I can't find the time table for coming back from Dublin Airport to Kilkenny. It shows only from Red Cow. Whats the best way if i arrive to dublin airport at 20:00 and want to travel to Kilkenny?

raze_them_all_

masterboy123 wrote: »

I can't find the time table for coming back from Dublin Airport to Kilkenny. It shows only from Red Cow. Whats the best way if i arrive to dublin airport at 20:00 and want to travel to Kilkenny?

they have time tables on the bus when you take them going up

Yamanoto

Pal attempted to use it yesterday evening, but the 19:40 Wat-Dub service from Ormode Rd. never showed up.

masterboy123

really? any update on this guys?

Yamanoto wrote: »

Pal attempted to use it yesterday evening, but the 19:40 Wat-Dub service from Ormode Rd. never showed up.

road_high

Yamanoto wrote: »

Pal attempted to use it yesterday evening, but the 19:40 Wat-Dub service from Ormode Rd. never showed up.

Any chance it had been early and gone?
Did they ring them and follow it up?

mick kk

The OH got it today. Was pleased with the service etc and it was fast but the timetable seems a bit unrealistic...think he got delayed on the quays on way up and was late getting out of Dublin on way back...not drivers fault...just the traffic. They have made no allowance for such delays on their timetable and maybe they should...a little too ambitious I think.

She also got the impression that the drivers in both directions were a little under pressure to meet these unrealistic times...maybe they should allow an extra 10-20 mins in each direction for delays.

raze_them_all_

they were spot on whenever i use it

road_high

raze_them_all_ wrote: »

they were spot on whenever i use it

Same as. It was actually delays in Kilkenny from what I could see held it up if anything.
Can't understand why they don't use the bus lanes. I thought all public and private operators could use them?

Yamanoto

road_high wrote: »

Any chance it had been early and gone?
Did they ring them and follow it up?

There were 10 other folks waiting for it who were equally baffled by its non-appearance apparently, so don't think it arriving ahead of schedule was the issue. All of them loaded onto the next Bus Eireann service & the driver called ahead to advise colleagues in Carlow that he was pretty much full - due to picking up additional pax waiting for the Dublin coach at Ormonde rd & McDonagh junction.

I'm going to give them a shout tomorrow to see what happened.

Jamie2k9

Last Fridays 19.00 departure from Waterford didn't depart until around 19.20, inbound was delayed for 50 minutes coming form Dublin. I know it' wasn't a Friday but how long did people wait?

road_high

They have a real time app which could be useful

Yamanoto

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Last Fridays 19.00 departure from Waterford didn't depart until around 19.20, inbound was delayed for 50 minutes coming form Dublin. I know it' wasn't a Friday but how long did people wait?

Waited 'til the Bus Eireann service arrived at 20:10 approx.

road_high wrote: »

They have a real time app which could be useful

Said he tried the app & t'was showing nada or throwing up an error.

Will update tomorrow when I've had a word with Dublin coach.

Yamanoto

Spoke with Dublin coach & apparently the service didn't leave Waterford 'til around 19:25, due to the timetable being knocked out of kilter by a couple of games being played on the Sunday. As a non-GAA man, I don't know whether that was in Dublin, Waterford or perhaps both.

Customer service lady (who apologised & was good to deal with) also said there are some issues with the real-time app, which are currently being addressed.

Jamie2k9

Yamanoto wrote: »

Spoke with Dublin coach & apparently the service didn't leave Waterford 'til around 19:25, due to the timetable being knocked out of kilter by a couple of games being played on the Sunday. As a non-GAA man, I don't know whether that was in Dublin, Waterford or perhaps both.

Customer service lady (who apologised & was good to deal with) also said there are some issues with the real-time app, which are currently being addressed.

Both were playing in Kilkenny.

masterboy123

After hearing the news that bus didnt come up at all, I just booked dublin airport car park. Will be driving myself to make sure I reach airport on time.

Yamanoto

masterboy123 wrote: »

After hearing the news that bus didnt come up at all, I just booked dublin airport car park. Will be driving myself to make sure I reach airport on time.

The bus did come, just well after the scheduled time.

Various posters earlier on attested to its general reliability, so I'm guessing this was just a blip - though the Dublin coach rep did say delays are prone to happen on match days (in which case it's imperative they sort their app out, so customers aren't left wondering what the hell's going on).

catbear

Yeah, match days in Kilkenny, especially up near Nolan park are going to affect their time table and there's little they can do about it other than stating that fact on their timetables.

Comerman

road_high wrote: »

Any time I've used the majority of people were Kilkenny passengers, don't see why the rest of us should suffer to give small towns with a fraction of the population a rolls royce service? The Bus Eireann routing makes no sense and they've even acknowledged that themselves with a few direct motorway runs, especially to the airport.
Kilkenny city badly needed a direct Dublin daily service via the motorway and now thankfully it does. Handy link to Waterford also.

Make stupid statements much?? Is it stuck in a time warp (bless them) or a Rolls Royce service?? Also why do you think people on travel passes deserve less of a service?? People don't get free travel passes easily, for instance I got mine at 42 because I got cancer and needed to travel to James' hospital regularly and was unable to drive. If you really think you are that "special" why not get yourself a nice car or better yet a Rolls Royce with chauffeur and all :rolleyes:

Vic_08

Yamanoto wrote: »

The bus did come, just well after the scheduled time.

Various posters earlier on attested to its general reliability, so I'm guessing this was just a blip - though the Dublin coach rep did say delays are prone to happen on match days (in which case it's imperative they sort their app out, so customers aren't left wondering what the hell's going on).

Looking at their timetable the problem with delays snowballing becomes obvious.

Firstly the timings are very tight, fine if there are no delays but will not be kept if Dublin, Waterford or Kilkenny are slow to get through. Clockface timetables look great on paper and they are what the NTA want to see but they take no account of changes in traffic volumes through the day or from day to day.


The real problem with the timetable though is the lack of proper recovery time.

Each run is timed for 2h15 with a 45min break in between. This seems like a lot of recovery time but in reality is not. With no delays the entire return trip could just be done without a break. The problem is that if one leg is delayed by more than a few minutes this is no longer possible so the driver will have to take a 45 minute break before returning meaning any delay on the outbound trip is added to the start of the return trip.

The other problem with that sort of timetable is it puts pressure on the drivers to break the rules, a previous poster noted that a service arrived in Waterford 50 minutes late and left 20 late, if it was the same driver then it would be impossible for him to do that and stay within the law unless he was relieved part way through the journey.

catbear

Comerman wrote: »

Make stupid statements much?? Is it stuck in a time warp (bless them) or a Rolls Royce service?? Also why do you think people on travel passes deserve less of a service?? People don't get free travel passes easily, for instance I got mine at 42 because I got cancer and needed to travel to James' hospital regularly and was unable to drive. If you really think you are that "special" why not get yourself a nice car or better yet a Rolls Royce with chauffeur and all :rolleyes:

Serious question.
Would Comer be better served by an as frequent shuttle service into to Kilkenny to link up with Dublin Coach. Drop off at McDonagh, straight shot to Dublin!

Comerman

Possibly Catbear, but for the likes of my mother who is in her 80's and goes to Dublin fairly regularly to visit relatives an extra journey would be hard going on her, also extra costs I'd presume.

Odyssey 2005

Used this today for a trip to Dublin. What a pleasure.:). No hassle with traffic or parking. Was landed into the middle of Dublin City and returned from the same spot. Was 15 mins leaving KK so 15 mins late to destination,so what. Will definately use it in the future. Was about 10 pax on way up and about 30/35 on return journey.

thelad95

Got it home from college last night, was great. Far more comfortable than any bus eireann bus I've been on and cuts an hour off the journey.

Realt Dearg Sec

road_high wrote: »

Same as. It was actually delays in Kilkenny from what I could see held it up if anything.
Can't understand why they don't use the bus lanes. I thought all public and private operators could use them?

They can, the problem is that for reasons I don't understand, taxis can also use them, rendering the whole thing useless in terms of speeding up bus journeys. Anyway I'm on the bus right now, it was five minutes later but I'm just passing islandbridge now, one hour and forty minutes after leaving kk, a single cost less than on BE, it's way way quicker, more comfortable, and we weren't treated to a lecture on what a chore it is to deal with us by the driver when we were buying tickets or using the luggage storage. If possible, I'll never be using BE to Kilkenny again. Yippee!

One down point, the stop in the red cow seems a bit pointless if nobody requests it. We went there and nobody got off. Should be request only.