In the old days the 44 went to Enniskerry. The 44A went to Clontarf.
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They have a 304A in Limerick as well. It goes on a different loop in Raheen and Castletroy but the middle route is the same.
Whatever about having A’s in Dublin, having them in Limerick where there are like 10 bus routes is a bit silly
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The 19A used to be a great route. Few mornings I was wandering around the southside after ending up at a random house party, when the 19A would appear and bring me safely back to the Northside. (Except the morning I got on it going the wrong direction and fell asleep).
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There was an 18 bus that used to start somewhere around Sandymount I think and snake across the Southside, Crumlin, Walkinstown and finish in Palmerstown. Always found it a bizarre route
The proverbial slow boat to China.
Many times leaving Lansdowne Road, when I’d get to the BIG junction beside the Berkeley Court and Jury’s where there was a bizarre kiosk selling flowers and newspapers and sweeties on an island in the middle, I’d make the mistake of looking over at the bus stop right at the bottom of Baggot Street, on the far side, and I’d see an 18 pulled in with people very slowly getting on, and I’d run over to it and get on. It would be one of those Bombardier buses from the 1980s with the whine of the engine that sounded like the blades of a push lawnmower rotating. Even in 2015, it was still a Bombardier bus from the 1980s, even though all of them had by then long since left service.
There was never an instance where getting the 18 bus was not a mistake. But it would lure you in, because it was there. “Oh come on, ride me, I’ve changed, I no longer take an hour and a half, I now only take an hour and a quarter.” It would turn your head away from doing the sensible thing of walking into town and getting a bus home from town. When you’d get on, when you’d be lured in, you’d quickly realise it was slower than ever.
It would be about 10 minutes before the bus would slowly leave the stop. People on it were generally sweaty, or wet, or had a blocked nose, coughing, coming down with something. There would always be heavy traffic after a match. The bus would always be full, but you’d always somehow get a seat upstairs.
Up Baggot Street, down Waterloo Road, right, then left, past Fitzwilliam tennis club, right again, past Jason’s snooker club, into the Rennalagh triangle, then over towards Rathmines. Left at Rathmines, up Rathgar Road then a quick right into a very posh area, Kenilworth Road (not the place where away fans get in through an attic opening), past Leinster cricket club, slowly winding over to that road between Harold’s Cross and Terenure. Across that junction, you were still in leafy D6 at this stage, then you finally came to one of those “join” points where “Dablin” meets “Djubbalin”, and you were into Roy Curtis country, the Kimmage crossroads.
You were only just getting started at this stage. There was still the whole of Kimmage and Crumlin to snake through. You’d be wondering “which road did Phil Lynott live on?” and you’d look at the mountains, which dominate every road in Crumlin. Half an hour later you’d come out at Crumlin village, then you’d go right, and right again, then left, then left again, and finally you’d come out opposite Crumlin hospital like a lost Japanese soldier emerging from the rainforest, and down past where that cunt’s pub now is and onto the Long Mile Road past Drimnagh Castle school, then right, into the proper industrial wasteland that is either side of the Grand Canal, into Ballyer, then on up through Ballyer.
The route ended at a cul de sac beside the West Link toll bridge which must have been the best terminus for any bus driver to go to. You could do anything there as a driver. You could have a piss in the bushes, you could read the paper, you could have a wank, you could have a kip.
I have some great, as in comepletely pointless, memories of the 18, particularly the time I was listening to commentary of Nottingham Forest v Manchester United on me earphones the day David Humphreys had a nightmare against France and Keith Wood ended up with a blue head, which is the last Ireland rugby international I ever attended. Solskjaer hadn’t yet come onto the pitch when I boarded the bus. By the time we got to Fitzwilliam tennis club, he’d banged in four goals.
The 18 gave me a fascination with the maze which is Crumlin and associated areas like Kimmage. You never know where you are in Crumlin/Kimmage, it doesn’t matter how many times you pass through it. Even the people who live there can’t find their way home, which is why Roy spends so much time in the city centre.
The worst thing you can ever do to a Dublin person is ask them for directions to O’Toole Park. You see that haystack? It’s a needle in the middle of that.
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DART+ West and Southwest.
Fair play to the Limerick and Kerry politicians.
Communicated very little. Just rolled stock images. Please expand for them
Michael Palin couldn’t have told it better
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How many times do we need to announce a public transport project before it actually starts?
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Now subject to government funding decisions and paschal speaking today about a conservative budget due to geopolitical instability. I think we know how this story will go again.
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DART+ West is starting its enabling works in December now, the full tender works will start in 2026 along with DART+ South West. The new DARTs are already getting tested here.
Bus Connects also has the first route starting imminently.
The contactless payment being pushed back to 2029.
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New Cabra station plans @Little_Lord_Fauntleroy
New Kylemore station plans due in the next few months as well. Neither will need a Railway Order.
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Seems like it’s coming in phases from 2027.
There’s probably a few lads in the depots whose job it is to sort and count the change. The unions have stood in and got the contactless pushed back for them
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It’s ridiculous that it’s taking so long to roll that out. I was heading out the other evening and realized I was only bringing my wallet because of my Leap card, I would have been just fine with using my phone or cash for everything else.
Contactless payments should already be in place on certain routes like buses from the Dublin Airport. Not everyone arriving here has exact change when they want to get the bus into the city centre.
I’d say they have it in London 10 years at this stage.
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Started in 2012 on buses and the rest went contactless in 2014.
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Speeds up bus journeys no end. You’re not waiting for cunts rooting in their pockets for change before the bus can move.
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