King Long September 26th 2008
Some unusual designs have hit the roads in the Irish Bus Market ,particularly in the past 3 years.
However the above Specimen is one of the more unusual of them. 08 - C - 11 arrived with Kearneys Coaches of Cork earlier this year and at present is one of the only of the type in Ireland, being used as a demonstrator for the type here. Kearneys help to promote it here through King Long Coach Sales Eire. A somewhat large looking veichle, it has one or two style looks of one of it's competitors, the Irizar Century. The Veichle itself spawns from King Long Bus & Coach in Xiamen,China.
With CIE recieving many new buses it is easy, not to mention shortsighted, not to pay attention to a sector of the bus market which contributes significantly to the Irish Transport System, some of whom have invested heavily in recient years, even now as the country faces Recession. So in time ,who knows, this unique coach type could find other prospective suitors in the turbulent times ahead....
As Seirbhis August 10th 2008
No soon had the last RA's been withdrawn after last weekend's outing to Dun Laoighre & Dundrum than the first RV's ,withdrawn for reasons other than accident or fire damage, been taken out of action, with the impending arrival of EV51-100 and AX shuffles.
RV331 was one of the casulties, seen above heading back to Donnybrook. This RV was sent to Ringsend but it entered service in Conyingham Road instead,where it remained until March this year,moving to Donnybrook. Another casulity was RV333, below at Liffey Valley during it's stint in the Adamstown AOA for the 25/A & 78A. It,332 & 334 were withdrawn. All 3 entered service on the 3rd week of May 1997,on the Lucan Corridor to provide much needed relief to the VA fleet,before moving to Clondalkin Routes.
Cest La Vie......
VT's to Celbridge August 4th 2008
The end of the Circle Line operation in June has seen passenger loads,particularly on the Dublin Bus routes running similar routings- the 25 Group & the 67 Group increase, and with the transfer of Phibsboro AX's elsewhere, VT's are now expected to take up "Euro" duties on the Lucan corridor, with the 67 group expected first.
With schools re-opening at the end of the month, demand will only be stimulated further, so the arrival of VT's onto these routes will be a welcome change,as filling them should not pose too much of a challenge, as their appearence on the 38's and 39's has shown, where they will probably still run as well, that the demand is there, particularly on a corridor where the last major change in the timetable was in 2003.
Lucan's Oxygen July 17th 2008
The Oxygen Shuttles operated again this year from July 10th to 14th but unlike previous years had a minor route change, this time operating via Lucan (Ballyowen) and on the new ring road via Grange Castle to Kingswood ,where they joined the N7. This avoided the 2007 problems experienced at Newlands Cross with major traffic congestion, when the shuttles ran via the M50.
The 2 photos here show Conyingham Road's RV332, shortly to be withdrawn, and Clontarf's RV428. Summerhill's RV383 operated the last Shuttle via Lucan. Both photos taken at Woodies,Lucan on July 14th 2008.
RV428's scroll is of particular intrest, the unusual font standing out. Clontarf buses were dominant on the final day of the shuttles,with Conyingham Road, Broadstone, Summerhill, Donnybrook & Harristown also chipping in.
Full Circle 27th June 2008
The Circleline service, which has been in operation for the past few years, bowed out on the 27th June. The service- jointly run by Mortons Coaches of Rathfarnham & Bartons of Maynooth, blamed Dublin Bus for unfair competition but no doubt other factors such as the rising cost of fuel played their part. The above photo, and the 2 photos below, were all taken on D-Day, June 27th.
