Dublin Bus shift change in town

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119863800#Comment_119863800

Is that not a good thing? Surely you want a shorter second half as physiologically it feels like you've less work to do after break.

That's always been the way I've looked at it anyway I know some people moan that they hangry if they're break is too late.

hairymaryberry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119863863#Comment_119863863

 Physiologically it feels like you got screwed, 10 more minutes on the first half and you would have been finished for the day 😪

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119863914#Comment_119863914

Never mind

TranslatorPS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119863220#Comment_119863220

DB don't seem to allocate any extra time for handovers at handover stops, it's just part of whatever running time gets calculated. Keep in mind that on the old network routes, intermediate handover times in the working timetable more often than not don't reflect actual travel time, but may have been twisted here or there in order to build legal duties. My favourite example is thankfully since long gone from the schedule, but on the Mon-Fri 13, the 18.00 ex Grange Castle was given 80 minutes to reach Parnell Square only so that the duty picking it up there had a full 50 min break - realistically at that time of the day you'd only need 50-55 minutes to cover said distance. More often than not, the bus was just dumped in Parnell Square upon early arrival.

GAI has holding time at some locations, but it's just as well part of potential passenger dwell time. The only en-route handovers in the GAI city network at the moment are Dun Laoghaire stn. for the 111, Dundrum for the 17 and 175 (used to break in UCD before they got their own room constructed in Dundrum), and Blanch SC for the 220: all other services break at termini or don't break anywhere on the route at all. Out of these three, Dundrum doesn't have any extra holding time for handovers (also, funnily enough, 17 handovers happen only eastbound). The holding time on the 104 in Beaumont Hospital appears to be a remnant of the very first break location on that route (yes, you're reading that right), but thankfully that idea didn't last long.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119861520#Comment_119861520

The version I'd heard about GAI in Blanch is that they ceased using the location for Covid reasons, especially since - if I'm not mistaken - the Crowne Plaza ended up being used as a quarantine location? Now whether it's because GAI chose to leave it or because they were told to yeet themselves out is beyond me. Amusingly enough, in the September 2022 duty cards, walking time to "Rest Room (Crowne Plaza)" is still included, so...

mikeybhoy

Did GAI have break facilities for drivers on the 104 in Beaumont hospital or were just expected to take their breaks there without facilities? I think Bray and UCD were like that for a while they had nowhere for drivers to take their breaks.

TranslatorPS

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119866318#Comment_119866318

I honestly don't know either way - I just remember my extreme surprise at seeing the very first takeover schedule, got shown a duty card, bam, Beaumont Hospital handovers. Whatever possessed them to do it...

Bray didn't have a facility at first, true, but now they have a break room. UCD in the end ended up getting a spare bus of sorts as a break room before they pulled out of there as a breaking location altogether.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119868584#Comment_119868584

Well I afaik the reason UCD isn't used as a break location is because UCD didn't have anywhere to rent to GAI so they found somewhere in Dundrum instead Shane Ross' former constituency office coincidentally. UCD would probably be a more logical place given the parking issues in Dundrum.

Fizzy Duck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119866318#Comment_119866318

No. We are advised we could use the bathrooms and the small shop, but obviously they weren't happy if you brought your own lunch and didn't buy anything. After about 2 months it was switched to the Westwood.

TranslatorPS

I should probably mention that in its first instances, the Airport itself was considered a break location for GAI - but I understand that all the 33A+33B+102 duties were made break in the car park portacabin once the pandemic started in spring 2020.

As for the regional services, various things happen there. GAI have their main base in Naas and a subdepot in Edenderry. In Edenderry the story is simple enough - handover on the 120C/D and pull in on the Dublin 120. In Naas, services fininshing in Newbridge will usually pull into Naas empty, but those continuing to Kildare will usually have a handover on the main road outside Toughers Industrial Estate. There're also handovers on the 130 in Naas town, and all of those non-depot handovers near Naas involve ferry cars. A limited number of breaks also happen in Connolly Station (Sheriff Street), and I've seen duties with both handover and "keep your bus" arrangements. There used to be a time when some Naas duties pulled into Ballymount for a break - either as a midway stop on the way from Dublin to Naas, or to come out to Connolly again - but I don't think this is still in place.

BE has a plethora of things happening. As I'd already mentioned, the 103 and NX handover in Beresford Place. The 115 and 133 do so in Connolly Station, parking the buses in Sheriff Street. However, in both cases, most duties will include walking time to Busaras, where 109 and 111 breaks take place too (although rarely with a handover per se). A slightly different animal is the afore-mentioned 105 with breaks in Blanchardstown hospital. Broadstone's outbased services may just as well include breaks in their outbases: Kells on the 109s, Cavan station on the 109X, Athboy on the 111, Mullingar on the 115, and Wicklow on the 133. Bus Eireann as a whole has to be a lot more flexible in their internal scheduling, and I would honestly consider Broadstone tame comprared to what I've seen in some of the other east coast garages...

hairymaryberry

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119864762#Comment_119864762

Can confirm no extra time given on a journey when handing over.

The reality is many timetable have had insufficient running time for years, the Covid break from normal services allowed them to keep these rosters/timetables, but now we are back to pre covid levels of traffic and passengers it clear for all to see, the rosters/timetables are not fit for purpose, but with Bus connect rolling out they wont bother changing, going to wait until those routes are online for new rosters/timetables and se if they are any improvement. They wont be😥

mikeybhoy

For years I've read drivers on here complaining about running times not being enough even before the NTA was setup. You'd think they'd have sorted it out by now but seemingly not.