Dublin's 24h bus services

Jamie2k9

There was severe overcrowding through Santry/Drumcondra last night with people left behind because of the 22.00 finish. Last buses were 16/41 (departing at 22.00) and 33 at 21.45 to city center. One driver told people to wait for another bus in 2 minutes behind but it was in fact 40 minutes. Some were dangerously overcrowded.

Saw the 66? or one of those heading to Kildare at 00.00 with just 4-5 on it. Why schedule a 00.00 departure on any route.

They cannot be allowed to suspend at routes at 22.00 (especially 24 hour ones), its completely pointless and typical CIE legacy issue. Luas have operated a normal schedule until 00.30 for 15 years...

thenightman

Most nitelink routes including 66N have a 12:00 departure. At least the 66N is hourly til 4. My 69N route goes at 12, 2 and 4am. 12am departure is usually empty, and changing it to 1am would make much more sense as at least you wouldn't have to rush from last call to get it and it would soak up people not going to night clubs. No use applying real life logic to Dublin Bus though!

Vic_08

thenightman wrote: »

Most nitelink routes including 66N have a 12:00 departure. At least the 66N is hourly til 4. My 69N route goes at 12, 2 and 4am. 12am departure is usually empty, and changing it to 1am would make much more sense as at least you wouldn't have to rush from last call to get it and it would soak up people not going to night clubs. No use applying real life logic to Dublin Bus though!

On most routes 2 hours is plenty of time to do a nitelink and return to the city to board the next trip, 1 hour is too short so your "real life logic" would mean twice as many buses and drivers required.

Nitelink was far more frequent in the past with up to 20 minute frequency on some routes but it was operated as a commercial service so got pared back when usage dropped to the point it was losing money.

thenightman

Vic_08 wrote: »

On most routes 2 hours is plenty of time to do a nitelink and return to the city to board the next trip, 1 hour is too short so your "real life logic" would mean twice as many buses and drivers required.

Nitelink was far more frequent in the past with up to 20 minute frequency on some routes but it was operated as a commercial service so got pared back when usage dropped to the point it was losing money.

I mean logical to customers who like me shell out the guts of 1700e for yearly tickets, not to suit Dublin Bus and it's staff. I know this is alien thinking to some of those staff. Apologies.

Vic_08

thenightman wrote: »

I mean logical to customers who like me shell out the guts of 1700e for yearly tickets, not to suit Dublin Bus and it's staff. I know this is alien thinking to some of those staff. Apologies.

FFS sake give over with that shyte. It has nothing to do with suiting staff.

I explained it clearly, suggesting that somehow staff preferences have any bearing on the service provided is a complete fabrication.

Nitelink was set up as a commercial service, required to cover it's running costs and has been run that way until recently. Adding the service you suggested would double the running cost, without an expectation that it would also double the revenue taken it is not a commercially viable decision.

And as you have an annual ticket the additional revenue from you would be nil so less of the I've paid such and such high-horse thanks very much.

NTA/Dublin Bus have started to roll-out 24hr services on a PSO basis so the commercial viability of them is not the primary consideration, in fact I seriously doubt they will be revenue positive overall.

When the full network of night routes is operational a decision will have to be made on the remaining stub of nightlinks covering full or partial areas outside the 24hr network.

Personally I reckon I will loose out whatever happens as the Nightlink that currently serves my location will be dropped and a 24hr route will go nowhere near me.

machaseh

Vic_08 wrote: »

On most routes 2 hours is plenty of time to do a nitelink and return to the city to board the next trip, 1 hour is too short so your "real life logic" would mean twice as many buses and drivers required.

The point is more that a 1 AM and a 3 AM departure are more logical than 12 and 2. You can stay in most pubs until about 1 on a weekend night, and 3 AM departure is great for people who go to late bars/clubs.

12 AM is only half an hour after the last regular bus and most people will find the night link fare for that a waste of money. You cant stay in all pubs until 2 AM but it's too early when you went clubbing.

Nitelink was far more frequent in the past with up to 20 minute frequency on some routes but it was operated as a commercial service so got pared back when usage dropped to the point it was losing money.

Why did usage drop? Usually, usage drops when the service gets less reliable or too expensive.

punisher5112

machaseh wrote: »

The point is more that a 1 AM and a 3 AM departure are more logical than 12 and 2. You can stay in most pubs until about 1 on a weekend night, and 3 AM departure is great for people who go to late bars/clubs.

12 AM is only half an hour after the last regular bus and most people will find the night link fare for that a waste of money. You cant stay in all pubs until 2 AM but it's too early when you went clubbing.



Why did usage drop? Usually, usage drops when the service gets less reliable or too expensive.

It wasn't carrying at all.

Use to do them.

The weekday ones were absolutely empty.

machaseh

punisher5112 wrote: »

It wasn't carrying at all.

Use to do them.

The weekday ones were absolutely empty.

And why were they so empty? Would you have any idea?

Tickityboo

machaseh wrote: »

And why were they so empty? Would you have any idea?

Taxi deregulation and the recession.

L1011

And the death of clubbing. Probably 80% of nightclubs are gone since then, it had started before the service ended

punisher5112

machaseh wrote: »

And why were they so empty? Would you have any idea?

Dublin city was a ghost town, less were working, as mentioned more taxi so you could get dropped to your door and not have to walk, less were out, less clubs, weekday nightlife was very low.

bikeman1

The 00:00 41 on a Friday night in "dry January" is completely full and standing out of town. Great to see 80 people availing of late night PT.

I don't know what it is going to be like in peak season!

youcancallmeal

bikeman1 wrote: »

The 00:00 41 on a Friday night in "dry January" is completely full and standing out of town. Great to see 80 people availing of late night PT.

I don't know what it is going to be like in peak season!

Just like it was in December in that you need to be at first few stops to have any chance of getting on

punisher5112

bikeman1 wrote: »

The 00:00 41 on a Friday night in "dry January" is completely full and standing out of town. Great to see 80 people availing of late night PT.

I don't know what it is going to be like in peak season!

Could be because many missed what was the 2330 bus from Eden Quay but no longer waits.

If it arrives at 2320 for example it keeps going.

bikeman1

punisher5112 wrote:

Could be because many missed what was the 2330 bus from Eden Quay but no longer waits.

punisher5112 wrote:

If it arrives at 2320 for example it keeps going.

The 41 commences at Lower Abbey Street. Previous departure before the 00:00 is the 23:30. It is not a cross city route.

It is great not being pressurised to HAVE to get the 23xx departure home anymore.

Qrt

Any word on the expansion of the 24hr bus services?

punisher5112

Qrt wrote: »

Any word on the expansion of the 24hr bus services?

There are 3 routes or at least another airport to city and back coming in as heard on the radio.

thomasj

Heard a mention of Ongar-Airport via city centre a few weeks ago.

Didn't pay much heed to it but Airport would be a good spot for Drivers to take their breaks.

h57xiucj2z946q

Will be great when the 39a goes 24 hour. Busses going past full, not stopping, at 6:30am this morning.

punisher5112

Graham Nutty Can wrote: »

Will be great when the 39a goes 24 hour. Busses going past full, not stopping, at 6:30am this morning.

They'll still be full

Xterminator

punisher5112 wrote: »

They'll still be full

but the op can choose to get the bus a 1/2 hour earlier. so will a few others. at the moment that choice doesn't exist.

dublinman1990

DublinBuses.com is reporting that the 39A is to commence it's 24 hour service from November 2020.

And more good news is included about other service enhancements for Dublin Bus.

Dublin Bus will convert Route 39A to 24-hour operation from November.

It is also proposed to enhance the number of departures on routes 1, 9, 13, 14, 40B, 40D, 83 and 145.

p_haugh

dublinman1990 wrote: »

DublinBuses.com is reporting that the 39A is to commence it's 24 hour service from November 2020.

And more good news is included about other service enhancements for Dublin Bus.

Looking forward to one of the n11/Rock road routes (aka the 46a/155 or the 4/7) going 24 hours too, hopefully it's not too long till that happens!

GT89

The 40b surely that's a mistake?

AlanG

dublinman1990 wrote: »

DublinBuses.com is reporting that the 39A is to commence it's 24 hour service from November 2020.

And more good news is included about other service enhancements for Dublin Bus.

Seems nuts to do the 39A and not the 39 - far more people would be served by the 39.

Midnight_EG

GT89 wrote: »

The 40b surely that's a mistake?

More departures, not 24hr

GT89

p_haugh wrote: »

Looking forward to one of the n11/Rock road routes (aka the 46a/155 or the 4/7) going 24 hours too, hopefully it's not too long till that happens!

I think they would be best off making the 155 24hr and the 7 24hr. The 155 would serve the Ballymun and N11 corridors whilst the 7 can serve the Rock Road and Dun Laoghaire.

Having the 145 24hr is not great as Hueston is dead at night. The 9, 13 and 83 all seem like poor choices to me for 24hr operation as these are mpre local routes rather than routes that stick to the main roads. I would think the 151, 66, 40 and 27 would all be stronger contenders for night operations than what's being proposed.

StreetLight

GT89 wrote: »

I think they would be best off making the 155 24hr and the 7 24hr. The 155 would serve the Ballymun and N11 corridors whilst the 7 can serve the Rock Road and Dun Laoghaire.

Having the 145 24hr is not great as Hueston is dead at night. The 9, 13 and 83 all seem like poor choices to me for 24hr operation as these are mpre local routes rather than routes that stick to the main roads. I would think the 151, 66, 40 and 27 would all be stronger contenders for night operations than what's being proposed.

You're getting your wires crossed. The only route mentioned for 24 hour operation is the 39a. The others are to see enhancements to the existing schedule.

dublinman1990

StreetLight wrote: »

You're getting your wires crossed. The only route mentioned for 24 hour operation is the 39a. The others are to see enhancements to the existing schedule.

Yep. You're spot on here. Just to reiterate to GT89's post because he was definitely confused here.

It's one additional route from Dublin Bus going into 24hr operation from November being the 39A. This means that Dublin Bus will have a total of 3 routes for 24hr operation namely the 39A beginning from November 2020 and the 15 & 41 which went into 24hr operation from December 2019.

The loads of other routes that I mentioned in my earlier post are not getting 24hr timetables. Those routes are staying on regular timetables.

I hope that clears the confusion up for everybody.

GT89

StreetLight wrote: »

You're getting your wires crossed. The only route mentioned for 24 hour operation is the 39a. The others are to see enhancements to the existing schedule.

Ah misread it so

p_haugh

Could have been my post that confused things, apologies. Was just giving my two pence on what routes should be made 24hrs after the 39a does

L1011

66 is probably next, considering it was rumoured to be going with the 39; and the pairing was delayed due to COVID.

Two significant late/24h traffic generators on it - Maynooth University and Intel.


An N11 corridor service is an obvious next step. Routes passing educational institutions, hospitals and shopping centres should probably all be served before looking anywhere else - significant amounts of public transit dependent passengers. But there will be a need for some orbitals in time too; the run time will be massively reduced at night versus daytime so they shouldn't be that hideously expensive to serve.

stephenjmcd

dublinman1990 wrote: »

DublinBuses.com is reporting that the 39A is to commence it's 24 hour service from November 2020.

And more good news is included about other service enhancements for Dublin Bus.

Not sure what enhancements can be made to the 145 really in terms of more departures. Its fairly frequent as it is. Unless they incase weekend schedule?

GT89

stephenjmcd wrote: »

Not sure what enhancements can be made to the 145 really in terms of more departures. Its fairly frequent as it is. Unless they incase weekend schedule?

Some peak hour extras perhaps as buses are often keaving people at stops in the mornings when I used it. Personally I'd rather they put on more 155s as I find the 145 Nortbound is a nuisance if you are going further than Dawson Street due to the detour around Molesworth Street and the back of Trinity.

The bus connects E1 is the same as the 155 and this will do away with this riddiculous 145 detour for once and for all.

L1011

39a going 24h from the 13th of December.

30m spacing from 2330 to 0700


Removal of the last 39 from the same date it seems.

GT89

L1011 wrote: »

39a going 24h from the 13th of December.

30m spacing from 2330 to 0700


Removal of the last 39 from the same date it seems.

Where did you hear that? Nothing on the DB website and can't see any news articles

p_haugh

L1011 wrote: »

39a going 24h from the 13th of December.

30m spacing from 2330 to 0700


Removal of the last 39 from the same date it seems.

Any word on other routes yet (i.e. the n11 corridor)?

eguiney

GT89 wrote: »

Where did you hear that? Nothing on the DB website and can't see any news articles

There are revised timetables in the Timetables section of the DB website

cgcsb

Brilliant, pitty I've nowhere to go after midnight

GT89

eguiney wrote: »

There are revised timetables in the Timetables section of the DB website

I see that now. Why is this not being pubblicised?

thomasj

GT89 wrote: »

I see that now. Why is this not being pubblicised?

It only went up today . I'd say we'll see it publicised next week.

stephenjmcd

Would be good to see something on the N11 corridor go 24hr, perhaps 155 given its cross city.

Wasn't there talk of 145 being extended to 24hr ?

Peregrine

eguiney wrote: »

There are revised timetables in the Timetables section of the DB website

Taken down now.

devnull

Apparently the schedule for the 24 hour 39A route has been rejected by the marked in drives on the 39 so will now go back to be looked at before a new schedule is presented which will then be subject to approval.

punisher5112

devnull wrote: »

Apparently the schedule for the 24 hour 39A route has been rejected by the marked in drives on the 39 so will now go back to be looked at before a new schedule is presented which will then be subject to approval.

Oy right, they pushed it through way to fast....
14 got a night service of sorts and it should not have got through as it is.

L1011

Further reason to get rid of the Victorian marking in system.

Screw over the newer staff and have them think it's a good thing because they might get to be the screwer not the screwee in a decade and a half. If there was no marking in the early career awful shifts would not exist.

I'd like to see a study about the safety risks of giving the experienced staff fixed routes versus giving the inexperienced variable ones too. All standard systems knowledge would see that as an awful idea

Forlock tugging "repsect your betters!" stuff that any union worth paying for should oppose with every fibre of its being is all that's ever given as an attempted coherent argument of support

punisher5112

L1011 wrote: »

Further reason to get rid of the Victorian marking in system.

Screw over the newer staff and have them think it's a good thing because they might get to be the screwer not the screwee in a decade and a half. If there was no marking in the early career awful shifts would not exist.

I'd like to see a study about the safety risks of giving the experienced staff fixed routes versus giving the inexperienced variable ones too. All standard systems knowledge would see that as an awful idea

I didn't wait over twelve years to then go backwards....
Shocking that you would even think it's good or comment so much on how much we actually have to put up with and not a Driver.

L1011

punisher5112 wrote: »

I didn't wait over twelve years to then go backwards....
Shocking that you would even think it's good or comment so much on how much we actually have to put up with and not a Driver.

That's the "I had it crap so everyone else should too" argument there. It's worthless. The system is a disgrace

A modern roster system would have delivered fair shifts from day one. How can you argue against that on such awful justification?

punisher5112

L1011 wrote: »

That's the "I had it crap so everyone else should too" argument there. It's worthless. The system is a disgrace

A modern roster system would have delivered fair shifts from day one. How can you argue against that on such awful justification?

They want to have us at the full time allowed, this is what's coming, a race to the bottom....

We are in for a world of pain and to be honest putting in brand new stainless steel poles with new information boards up high that nobody will look at is pure nuts, this money could be much better spent...

I drove an AX today which I haven't in quite some time and by jaysus is it a much better bus then that sg crap.... One thing the sg is better at is that you can put the demisters to your feet, that's about it.... I forgot how good the brakes were on them too, you tip the pedal and the retarder kicks in..... The GT and SG you need to press so hard.....

I don't want to believe this but with everything this year, who is going to be using the bus to actually make it worth having 24hr or every 8 minutes etc etc when most will be out of work....
It could be most likely worse then 2008 on.

L1011

punisher5112 wrote: »

They want to have us at the full time allowed, this is what's coming, a race to the bottom....

We are in for a world of pain and to be honest putting in brand new stainless steel poles with new information boards up high that nobody will look at is pure nuts, this money could be much better spent...

I drove an AX today which I haven't in quite some time and by jaysus is it a much better bus then that sg crap.... One thing the sg is better at is that you can put the demisters to your feet, that's about it.... I forgot how good the brakes were on them too, you tip the pedal and the retarder kicks in..... The GT and SG you need to press so hard.....

I don't want to believe this but with everything this year, who is going to be using the bus to actually make it worth having 24hr or every 8 minutes etc etc when most will be out of work....
It could be most likely worse then 2008 on.

Absolutely not one bit of this post addresses what was being asked.