Provincial Past

1989 finds Bus Eireann KR 48 at the station in Ennis. This bus was new to CIE in 1985. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in the early-2000s, spending its final few years as a school bus based out of Longford.  

Bus Eireann route 333 still connects Doonbeg with Ennis.

04/03/1989

1993 finds M 167 at the bus station in Drogheda. This bus was new to CIE in 1972. In 1976 its original Leyland engine was replaced by a Cummins one (one of two M Class buses to have this modification done), and the bus was renamed to MC 167. In 1996 it joined the schools fleet and in 2001 it was withdrawn by Bus Eireann, though was saved for preservation. The bus is still carrying Expressway branding in this photo, but had lost it by the following year. 

31/03/1993

1996 finds 772 URB not in Ireland at all, but instead at Holyhead in Wales. Although the bus is in Bus Eireann livery, it is in fact owned by KMP of Llanberis. It was used on Bus Eireann Supabus services (which evolved into Eurolines). Passengers would board a bus in Dublin and be driven to the ferry. At Holyhead they would be greeted by one of these buses that took passengers onwards to their destinations at cities like Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London. Alternatively, some of the UK-based buses did do the full journey to Dublin.

772 URB is a registration that has had a long life in the UK. KMP used it on a previous coach in the 1980s, and another one in the 1990s. More recently Go Goodwins have used it on at least six different buses.  

29/04/1996

1987 finds KD 180 at the bus station in Cork with a service to Fountainstown. This bus was new to CIE in June 1982, and spent all its working life in Cork. It was withdrawn in the late-1990s, and spent its latter years in a variety of all-over ads.

Fountainstown is still served today by route 220X.  

19/05/1987

1986 sees M 164 loading up at the railway station in Kilkenny with an Expressway service. This bus was new to CIE in 1972. It was re-engined from Leyland to General Motors in 1980. It became a school bus under Bus Eireann in 1989 and was withdrawn in 1997. 

07/06/1986

2007 sees Bus Eireann DWR 008 at the bus station in Letterkenny on route 491 to Ballybofey. This bus was new to Bus Eireann in 2001. It was withdrawn around October 2008 and spent time in storage at Broadstone in Dublin and in Sligo town. It was possibly scrapped in the United Kingdom in 2011.

Route 491 still connects Letterkenny with Ballybofey, twice a day (except on Sundays).

The bus is festooned with branding and signage. It has school bus logos on the front and side. On the side it has signage for the Eurolines services to Britain and Europe, the 9 return services a day from Letterkenny to Dublin Airport and the Bus Eireann Nightrider service on route 491N (which ran between December 2006 and May 2009).  

25/06/2007

1998 finds VC 109 at the bus station in Drogheda on route 100. This bus was new to Bus Eireann in 1997 and was initially based out of Dundalk / Drogheda. Around 2003 or 2004 it moved south to Kerry. It spent its final few years in the school bus fleet, based out of Tralee. It was withdrawn and went for scrap around 2018. 

Route 100 currently runs between Drogheda and Dundalk, but for many years was the route number for services between Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk, along with route number 101. 

The "Louth 98" branding on the front presumably refers to the Leinster Senior Championship, were Louth made it to semi-finals and were beaten by Meath. 

25/07/1998

2002 finds Bus Eireann ML 109 at the shopping centre in Navan. It is operating a service on town route A. The three town routes (A,B and C) started in 1999, and were replaced by new routes N1 and N2 in 2020.  

ML 109 was new to Bus Eireann in Limerick in 1997. It left the Navan town service around 2005, and ended its days on school duty in County Cork. Navan, 17/08/2002

1987 finds C 154 parked in Crossmolina, County Mayo. This bus was new to CIE in 1966, and became a school bus in 1985. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann in the 1990s and was sold into preservation in 1996. 

10/09/1987

1982 sees WVH 23 at Ballyshannon. This bus started life in 1964 as WT 23, a Leyland Worldmaster. In 1971 its original body was removed and VanHool built new bodies on the Leyland chassis. It was withdrawn in 1985.

Bus Eireann routes 64 and 480 still connect Ballyshannon with Bundoran on a daily basis, while routes 483 and 495 connect them on a less frequent basis. 

02/10/1982

Presume so as the bus in photo is in CIE Coach Tours livery.

1996 finds KR 169 at Wexford. This GAC bus was new to CIE in 1985. It was withdrawn by Bus Eireann around 2007. 

The bus has a paper destination of Gorey in the windshield. Bus Eireann still connect the two towns with Expressway route 2 to Dublin Airport, as does Wexford Bus route 740 which also goes to Dublin Airport.  

19/10/1996