Three BusConnects lines in Dublin are changing their paths from today following sustained passenger protests over reliability, capacity and cancelled services.
The changes affect routes 80, 23 and 24, which run primarily through Chapelizod and Finglas and were introduced last October as part of Phase 7 of the BusConnects programme. Almost immediately after launch, commuters raised concerns about delays, infrequent services and so-called “ghost buses” that appeared on timetables but failed to materialise.
Passengers in both areas organised a series of protests, arguing the redesigned routes were not fit for purpose. In response, and ahead of Christmas, the National Transport Authority (NTA) agreed to amend the services, acknowledging that “reliability issues” on the three routes were largely driven by heavy traffic congestion and “driver availability constraints”.
One of the central problems identified was the decision to route the buses through the Christchurch area, where congestion regularly caused knock-on delays. Some passengers also complained that the revised layouts left them further from the O’Connell Street area than under previous arrangements.
From today, routes 80, 23 and 24 will instead travel further along the bus corridor on the north quays, bringing passengers closer to the O’Connell Bridge area. The NTA said the temporary changes should improve journey times and restore confidence in the services.
Jeremy Ryan, NTA Director of Public Transport Services, said the timing of the original rollout contributed significantly to the problems experienced by passengers.
“The time of the year when we launched the service was October, traffic was at its worst,” he said. This will make a significant difference, we believe, in terms of journey times and the reliability of service.”
Ryan added that the revised routing should also reduce cancellations and the number of ghost buses appearing on schedules. “More services will run on time and there will be less cancelations because of congestion. Ghost buses quite often happen because of cancelations of services at the last minute,” he said. “That can happen because of unexpected levels of congestion, so you'll certainly see less ghost buses, and the services we do run will run more reliable and more evenly spaced, so there'll be less capacity issues, we anticipate less people not able to get on board a bus.”
“We think these changes will make a significant difference in the city centre.”
Despite the amendments, some residents have said the revised routes still fail to address key issues in their communities. In Finglas, Cathy Byrne of the Beneavin Residents Association said locals remain effectively cut off from essential services and amenities.
“The number 9 bus was an excellent bus route that went down Glasnevin Avenue, and it served DCU, four primary schools, two secondary schools and the Na Fianna GAA club. Now we have no link to that area,” she said. Byrne said the current layout no longer serves several nursing homes or a secondary school, creating additional challenges for older residents and families. “The bus is not servicing three nursing homes and a secondary school. There's a lot of older people in the area and the new bus stop is a distance away,” she said.
She also claimed the knock-on effects were being felt across the wider area. “The visitors to the nursing home are now arriving by taxis. The buses are coming from the airport and they're coming down full,” Byrne said. “The traffic has increased no end in the area because people now have to drop their children to school and they're also parking their cars in residential areas to get closer to the main [bus] spine. It just doesn't work.”
Residents in Chapelizod have voiced similar frustrations. Nick Stefanovic, a local resident, said communities felt excluded from decision-making around the changes.
“The National Transport Authority have refused to engage with the residents of Chapelizod, Palmerstown and Islandbridge, despite repeated requests over the past four months for engagement and any solution that is being proposed is still being imposed top down on us, without consultation with the locals who use these services every day and know their needs,” he said.
The NTA has stressed that the current arrangements are temporary. The routes were originally designed with the planned pedestrianisation of College Green in mind and will need to change again once that project proceeds.
Under longer-term plans, route 80 is due to be merged with the 130 service, which currently links Clontarf with the city centre, creating a single cross-city route. The NTA said it expects this change to take effect at some stage in 2027.
A timeline for the redevelopment of College Green is expected to be revealed in the coming days. The NTA said it hopes conditions will be different by the time services revert to the more contentious routing.
“Its a temporary arrangement. We hope with the City Council to arrange better bus priority on the sections of the bus route where we were running and we were getting caught in congestion in advance of the construction of the College Green Plaza,” it said. “We'll hopefully have better priority on the section of routes in the west of the city, where we're routing through Bridge Street and High street in advance of coming out of that area.”
