RV551 & RV411

Former Harristown, now Summerhill RV551, seen on Parnell St. during it Harristown days on Route 40D, with the scroll advising of a dirersion on the route.
ver the other side of Parnell Street former Phibsboro RV411 terminating on Route 120:

RV375 & RV639

Former Summerhill RV375 on Route 16 towards Santry
Phibsboro RV639 on former Route 172 at Dunard

RV435 & RV588

Former Summerhill RV435 is seen on Parnell Square East display a numeral scroll for the former Park & Ride route number 254...
Harristown's RV588 on the now finished evening peak departure on Route 40A from St. Stephen's Green.

Some other RV's...

Summerhill's RV552 rounds College Street on the 16A towards Nuytgrove Avenue
While Harristown's RV572 is seen laying over in Blanchardstown Centre between departures on Route 239.

The decreasing number of RV's...

With the decreasing number of RV's on the city streets, I've decided to look over some of my recent and not so recent photos and post a few up here... over the next few days expect to see RV's across many depots/routes...

Donnybrook's RV569 to kick us off:
RV569 is seen here at the 44 terminus on Townsend St., and not Eden Quay as the scroll states!

Birmingham

Last weeks trip to Coach & Bus Live was a little disappointing with quite a small show at the NEC this year. However, a trip into the centre of Birmingham allowed for some good photos. It was nice to see that National Express West Midlands still had some vintage MCW double deckers in operation, even if, to use the phrase of another site, they were a 'scare at peak time' for the most part.
3070 is seen here after just leaving the terminus of Route 107 bound for Sutton Coldfield.

College Green Bus Gate

At the same time Swedish furniture giant IKEA was opennig its doors to the public, College Green in the city centre was cloing its doors to private cars... becoming buses, taxis and cyclists only Monday to Friday 7am to 10am and 4pm to 7pm.

Phibsboro AV381 is seen here passing through College Green while a member of the Gardai directs a motorist away from the area.
For more information on the College Green bus gate, click here.

Elite style...

Logan's Exective Travel / Corporate Coaching based in Antrim, who operate coaching services for CIE Tours International, have taken delivery of some new Plaxton Elite coaches on Volvo B12B chassis.

YN09 HRG is seen here in Nassau Street in Dublin city centre on some CIE Tours work.
To visit Logan's website, click here or to find out more about the Plaxton Elite, click here.

Now serving IKEA...

IKEA Dublin opened its door to the public on July 27th last, and since opennig Dublin Bus Routes 13 & 13a have been serving the new Swedish furniture store.

Fellow Harristown Route 140 will also extend to serve IKEA shortly.

AV163 is seen here on O'Connell St., IKEA bound...

VT42 on the 121

Very unusually VT42 operated on Route 121 on Sunday the 2nd August 2009...

We're so used to seeing these Volvo B9 Enviro 500's on the 10, 37, 38/a 0r 39/a/c that this rare operation on the 121 surprised many...

Here are some photos of VT42 on the 121 at Ratoath Road:

Good Friday...

Details and photos of a few bus journies in Dublin on Good Friday...

Firstly, the 7am 51A from Abbey St. to Beaumont Hospital... VG23 is seen leaving the hospital.
Next a 103 to Ballymun, to take a 220 to Blanchardstown... AV435 is seen here with AV436 on the left of the picture laying over on the 220 also.
While the bus shelter in Ballymun displays some interesting route information:
The flag reads 'Routes 18, 50, 56A, 77, 77A, 210'
While waiting AV166 passes on a 13 towards Merrion Square...
In Blanchardstown Centre, EV49 on the 39 and VG16 on the 270
Next trip was on a cicular 236 - AV194
Then before a 239 to Liffey Valley on RV619, quick photo of WV7 operating the 238
Next a 210 from Liffey Valley to The Square - AV98
Another bus stop photo... This time outside The Square:
From here a 50 to Citywest, AV16.
While waiting EV58 passes on the 69, then a 65B from Citywest to Rathmines, switch to a 128 to Fairview to catch, a 31 from Eden Quay to Howth, EV82:
Next the 31C from Howth to Sutton Stationn on WV45
And the final photo AV160 on a 102 from Sutton Stn. to Dublin Airport

Zzzzz....

If your reading this update, you'll have noticed how there has been a lack of updates on this blog of late... sadly for the short term this will continue... However, we will return this Summer!!! Blog ya then!

Airlink - city/airport direct

The first of the new VG class Volvo Wright Geminis for the Airlink service has entered service.

VG36 from Summerhill went into service on Tuesday 10th February 2008.
The new Airlink VG's will see the replacement of older AV's off the service. AV117 is seen above at Dublin Airport.



VG36 is seen at Dublin Airport in these photos on Wednesday 11th February 2009.
This side shot shows the Airlink livery in full...
These buses feature luggage racking and LCD screens. These screens show route maps for the Airlink 747 & 748 services and details on Dublin Bus tours. Also, when the doors are open the screens show passengers the downstairs luggage rack, therefore giving piece of mind to those travelling with luggage.VG36 is seen outside Busaras Bus Station in Dublin City Centre
The Airlink service connects Dublin Airport with Dublin city centre, bus and rails stations up to very tens minutes.
For details on Dublin Bus services to Dublin Airport, click here.

Nice day for a Wright Wedding

Well with all the snow of late, it was a surprise to see some sun today...
What better day for some Wedding Bus photos, and here we have Phibsboro's VG9 on a Euro duty on the 51B, photos taken at Grange Castle.
For more details on the Wedding Bus from Dublin Bus, click here.

More Impact!

Following on from the impact of Dublin Bus' new VG class, the impact of another new type of bus serving Dublin Airport is also taking place. Aircoach is in the process of replacing some of its 2003 Setra coaches with new Volvo Jonckheere coaches.
These coaches are included in First Group's fleet numbering of 5 digits, and 20658 is seen at Dublin Airport on the Leopardstown route.

Impact!

I am always amazed of the impact of new type of bus has in Dublin city...
The Dublin Bus Volvo Wright Gemini VG class are presently only operating out of Phibsboro and Harristown depots and they are turning heads on the streets with their stylish design, Harristown's VG18 is seen heading onto O'Connell Bridge operating on Summerhill Route 16

And then you can board a Phibsboro VG, VG5 on the 19A and still be surrounded by these new vehicles. A feature which I'm quite impressed by is the break light above the upper deck rear window as seen on VG18 out the window of VG5!
All in all, I'm very impressed and can't wait to see the VG's in Airlink format.

Cornering the market...

With the growth of Euro against Sterling more people are opting to head north of the boarder to shop. With this in mind UK grocery chain Sainsbury's are advertsing on the rear of some Aircoach vehicles, the mega rear for Sainsbury's below...

Clever marketing on Sainsbury's behalf, with a linear map of their stores in the Northern Ireland listed.