Well I'm on the 6.35 service from Dundalk, Its a 4 carriage train. We've been told to get off at Drogheda for a connecting bus service... Will see if I can provide more details when i get there..

arrived Drogheda at 6.56.. We were told to board the buses outside the station. All buses were anchor tours. From my point of view... which is why i don't pay for a yearly bus ticket - severely cramped for someone my height.

the train from Dundalk took up two buses. both left approx 7.00-7.07. Went out old Dublin road and then on to the m1. There is was smooth until the Swords offramp where there was a tailback... I'm told there usually is at that time but it was moving. We went via port tunnel and arrived at Connolly Station at 7.54... not bad :) one minor worry was though when the driver didn't know what turn to take but thankfully someone on the front seat was able to tell him otherwise god knows where we would have ended up!

On leaving the bus an IE person told to to go through Platform 2 to the carpark for returning buses... In my case I'll have to leave work earlier to get home 20 minutes later!

I could be way off here but I suspect that people now using the bus from Drogheda will be pleasantly surprised. If they put on enough buses and get them moving on time then the journey will be faster than the train.


[edit]...Just seen Tiggers post above. It seems the bus took just 54 minutes. That is definitely faster than the train!

Awake 5.00Am

Bus Eireann bus from Drogheda bus depot at 6.20.

10 day weekly ticket 31.40 or so online, cheaper than train.

Seat comfertable but cramped, knees digging into seat infront. Ride to jolting to sleep or snooze. Several stops.

By the last stop in Balbriggan the Bus, full capacity 49, was full.

Dozen's of Confused Balbiggan residents were trying to board.

The driver explicitly told them that HE WAS NOT ACCEPTING RAIL TICKETS.

And that he had been told this from above but that he might be told otherwise later in the day.

He also stated that all other 101's will be Double deckers to cope with the overflow of passengers. He also radioed into his depot to inform them that he had reached capacity in Balbriggan.



When passing Drogheda station at 630 am there were at least 6 or so Double Deckers and Coach's parked in the second car park, all waiting for the trains.




Arrived in town at busaras at 7.40 or so.

Walked into docklands, across pedestrian bridge, up to Westlandrow/Pearse Street and Into Trinity.


The pipe dream is to do this all week. I hate the bus already. We'll see what it's like on the way home. 4pm or so from Busaras = NIGHTMARE!:rolleyes:

Bit of an alarm clock mishap this morning, so still on the bus. About a third of Drogheda station car park has been turned into a bus depot, so severely reduced parking (fortunately I was cycling). Bus has been making good time and could well end up quicker than the train. It was worth selecting seat with care as some have more leg room than others.

Have to confess not as bad as I expected, but will that continue to be the case when the schools go back?

It says a lot that trains enjoy no speed advantage over buses, not only for intercity journeys but also for suburban journeys. Last year my girlfriend was commuting from Coolock to Ballsbridge and found the 27x regularly beat the Dart. That's all three classes of train journeys beaten by buses - a depressing anecdote.

From what I heard on the radio this morning the first morning seemed to go ok.

There is still the issues of

a) Getting everyone home ok
b) Getting the same smooth running each day for the next 3+ months :(

Drove to Dundalk (Normally a 6:50 enterprise user from belfast) this morning, got the 7:16 train to drogheda, bus from car park to connolly. was at connolly at 8:40 - which is about the same time it takes the train so not too bad (Traffic was not as bad as I would have expected). Expect much worse when the schools are all back.

I'm presuming the 16.20 train from drogheda is the normal 15.20 enterprise... Buses for it are leaving at 15.00... no mention of any buses at 15.20?

Donabate
 

Anybody else having issues with the information posted about the alternative services for Donabate? I also understand that there will only be shuttle buses between 5 and 6pm, nothing for off peak or after 6pm - which is an utter disgrace!

Seems to be a case of it!

Shuttle Service from Malahide Station to Donabate Station
16:00, 16:20, 16:40, 17:00,
17:05, 17:20, 17:40, 18:05.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/News-Cent...hide-Station-/

maybe worth checking with Irish Rail, surely they will expect people to turn up after 3:00 for the 3:20 so the 3:30 busses must be scheduled to make the connection from drogheda...

From bad to worse....
 

I am usually up at 5.45am to catch the 7.02am from Balbriggan to Connolly, which gets in at about 7.50am.

Today I got the 33X at about 7.20am, got off in Fairview at about 8.40am, having been through Skerries, Rush, Lusk and along the M1 through the Port Tunnell. Got to work at 8.55am.

Checked the Ianrod Eireann website for information on getting back home and now the 33X is only going as far as Skerries with a rail transfer to Balbriggan? Absolutely unacceptable! The customer service agent at Connolly I spoke to said that Bus Eireann may start accepting rail tickets - there's a meeting today to decide.

I cannot spend 4+ hours per day going 18 miles. That is lunacy and the rail transfer via Skerries is an insult. :mad:

I have a monthly ticket for September. Does anyone know about getting a refund? I'd rather buy weekly tickets for Bus Eireann until all this is over.

Drogheda to Dundalk
 

I called IE 1850 number today to ask them what bus I should to meet the 18:00 train from Drogheda to Dundalk, or the 19:00. For 18:00 I was told either 16:00 or maybe 16:30 bus or for 19:00 the 17:00 or 17:30 buses. But they couldn't guarantee the bus would be in time (obviously due to traffic) but the trains would leave on time regardless of what time buses were due to arrive. Are all the commuter trains north of viaduct being used for this service or could a more regular train service be added for the Drogheda to Dundalk connection ?
:confused:

return journey
 

i got the 15.00 bus from connolly... it left when it was full. got to Drogheda at 15.50... no train at the platform, we were told it hadn't arrived yet.. Enterprise from belfast arrived and we were boarded by 16.03... one wee issue.. although i think another bus arrived.. the train left at 16.15... unless this is a different service.. it was supposed to leave at 16.20? i wonder did everyone make the train?? the only holdup enroute was roadworks in drogheda.. single lane traffic.

Still day one over for today.. lets see how tomorrow goes..

I rang 703 2359 again and the guy (info desk in connolly) advised that the Enterprise will not leave drogheda untill all busses that depart connolly at 7 reach drogheda. Albiet.... after fridays "guarantee's" that the train will be waiting in drogheda until all busses from the 7pm train got there was unfounded. I was on the 7 friday, told of an incident in malahaide and that they would be organising busses, the big problem was the 6:40 drogheda train had not left so everyone got off that and onto the enterprise and they all heard the message too then announced on the enterprise at about 6:55 so there simply wasnt enough busses, i eventually reached drogheda at 8:50 after maybe 20 promises that there were busses arriving in 5-10 mins!!! So fingers crossed, no mess up tonight.

For the drogheda - dundalk route, I noticed the 7:16 this morning was only 4 cars, so maybe they could run 2 x the normal services but as 4 cars with the peak periods obviously coverred sufficiently?

The 3:20 enterprise from dublin - belfast should take about 30mins to drogheda so normal departure would have been 3:50ish? 4:15 is 25mins late is it not?

Skerries/Balbriggan train transfer
 

There are a slew of 33X buses leaving Lower Abbey Street for Skerries, according to the Irish Rail website.

And the train transfers from Skerries to Balbriggan...? A grand total of three: 16.00, 18.00 and 20.00. And the buses don't even drop you to the station - you have to walk?! A cruel joke - this is the best they could do? Have they ever noted just how many people get on and off the train in Balbriggan? The "alternate" 33 bus service goes everywhere in North County Dublin and takes two hours to get to town.

Bus Eireann are not honouring rail tickets but the "alternate service" being offered by IE is forcing me on to Bus Eireann.

Is anyone else experiencing this and if so, have you complained?

There is a special direct bus to/from Ballbrigan as of tomorrow

We have pitched an idea to Irish Rail to get more trains running to Donabate

Is there any reason why the shuttle bus from Donabate is not running between 9 and 4? It took me 2 and a half hours to get from Raheny to Donabate today. This is unacceptable. There seems to be a common view that rail users only go into Connolly. I have a meeting tomorrow again in Raheny at 12 o clock and I've been told that the best way for me to get there is to get the 33b to Swords, then a separate bus into town and then either a Dart or a bus to Raheny. Now excuse my French but somebody somewhere is having a f*****g laugh. Are Irish Rail and Dublin Bus really that ignorant of an entire community?