A Christmas Tale: My (re-)introduction to Irish Public Transport #1

apwhite · 22-12-2005, 23:32

After living in Germany for 9 years, a country where public transport generally starts at 4.30 am and finishes at 1am, a country where one travel ticket for 2 EUR will let you change transport modes as many times as you want to get to your destination within 90 minutes, a country where you can get the 550 km from Frankfurt to Berlin in 3:30 hours whilst sipping a freshly poured glass of beer, brought to you by a waiter in the subdudely lit restaurant car of a sexy white train, I arrived back to Dublin at the beginning of this year.

Everything looked all shiny, spanking new cars on the road, metallic Luas gliding and honking by, SeaCats speeding off to Hollyhead and Dublin busses without rust! Ain't progress wonderful?

But on one of my first trips around Dublin I was brought back to the horrors of Irish Public Transport with a bang...

* A true story *
All I wanted to do was get from Blackrock to Parnell square and back again. Easy. I decided to do it by bus to save me the walk to the Dart station. First mistake. After bravely standing at the bus stop for 15 minutes a bus approached. A 45. First problem - where does it terminate? "An Lar" is a great f**king use in a medium sized 1.5 million inhabitant city.

I hopped on and waited to be surprised and see where the journey would take me. My first surprise was the fact that I handed 2 EUR to the driver and he issued me a ticket, I was about to ask where my change was when he told me the 2nd half of it was a receipt... Anyone know of other countries (not including those muppets in the UK) where exact change is required to travel??

The second surprise was the amount of bloody bus stops on the route. 10 seconds after leaving Roches Stores we were stopped again at a bus stop where there are no visible houses in the vicinity - a large wall behind it, Blackrock park in front and minimal housing left & right. This carried on ad nauseum. Does anyone know Dublin's bus stop per km ratio??? It must be the highest in the world. We carried on through Booterstown and Ballsbridge and I quickly observed a quirky phenomenon - bus leapfrog, it seems as if one bus is always overtalking the other. It stops at the next busstop and the bus behind it then has to swing out to overtake and the fun starts again. I know of no other country where this happens...

Anyway we made it as far as Bewleys hotel when the fun started. A lot of people wanted to get on and there was a throng waiting to get off. I always understood that God had invented the world with 2 types of doors - the IN door and the OUT door. But obviously Dublin Bus knows better so we all waited while the people squeezed by each other. A tourist family from Scotland got on and asked the driver for 2 adults and 2 kids, the driver told them the price and told them exact change, no notes. How the f*ck are you expected to have 5.30 (or whatever) change in coins in your pocket for a bus journey? They managed to scrape it together (even with wee Hamish donating 60 cents from his hard earned pocket money).

The ride went smoothly for about all of about 20 seconds until the RDS. Then the driver just stopped the bus and told us to get out. I thought he was throwing a hissy-fit due to excessive bus-leapfrogging but I quickly learned it was simply the end of his shift.... Heh????? Imagine your denist half extracting a mouldy molar and him then telling you that he has to clock off... There is a dentist next door that will carry on from where he left off. Also another world first for me. I presume those weirdo European bus drivers have to be slave-driven to complete the journey before they can clock off...

The rest of the journey was uneventful and we made it into An Lar. And in the 30 minute journey I was already planning an open letter to Dublin Bus. But wait, I had to get back to Blackrock, the fun was only beginning.... TBC

22-12-2005, 23:58

It mattered not if you were in Germany for 9 years or 999 years. As long as CIE control public transport in Ireland there was, and never will going to be real progress.

I was going out to see my bother in Tallaght a few years back and I got the 77B (?) bus. The bus is meant to go to West Dublin and there had been an attack on a bus driver the previous night.

I have no problem with BAC drivers being pissed off about this. But did they have to terminate all buses in the The Square and then say nothing to the passengers?

So we sat in the Square carpark in the bus all looking confused and at each other wondering what was going on. So I start to see passengers leaving the bus and I eventually followed. There were about 40 buses parked inthe square and about 15 yards away I see a group of men and I recognised one of them as the driver of my bus.

So politiely I go over and ask as we going to Raheen? Apart from interupting a surly grunting session with his fellow CIE neaderthals with a nasty momentary glace in my direction he stated nothing. So I ask again. One of the other drivers replied in a nasty and arrogant manner "no fookin buses past the Square tonight cos of anti-social behavior".

Now the irony of this statement struck me as odd considering how the passengers were marooned, not told why and then treated like ****. How were we to blame to what happened to the driver in West Tallaght the night before, whom I and 99.99 of the people on the bus would of had total sympathy for.

So as I had determined that my journey was terminated I asked for some of the fare I paid back. Was told that the money is in a sealed box. I was looked upon as if I was a headcase for requesting this and how dare I ask. By the same shower of pricks who dumped us in the Square. Doing that to the passengers, including pregnant women, young kids and older folks on a winter's night was perfectly acceptable to them.

Next morning I called Dublin Bus with all the details on the bus, route the driver refused to give me his name. Nothing ever came of it.

A few weeks later they were marching through the streets of Dublin with posters of Seamus Brennan made up like Hitler demanding that 'CIE Not Be Broken Up to SAVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT'.

You should have stayed in Germany and I should have bought a car a lot sooner. CIE are a disaster. I am simply amazed how some people out there are nostalgic, almost romantic about this appalling organisation which has served our nation so badly and will continue to do so till we get a Government with guts who can take the unions on and removed CIE from the face of the earth once and for all.

sean · 23-12-2005, 01:08

Everything you say is true. Public transport in Dublin especially is a joke.

From someone used to German transport, this reintroduction must have been a real bummer. The Germans put us to shame.

Maskhadov · 23-12-2005, 21:15

I was in Germany for a couple of months and travelled about while I was there. I have to totally agree, Germany is kick ass when it comes to public transport. I was very impressed with their whole attitude and the thinking they put into things. I wish we just had more germans over here to do all the planning and investment for us. Our public transport is slap stick

23-12-2005, 23:41

Every country is Western Europe has far superior public transport to Ireland. Not just Germany.

MrX · 24-12-2005, 13:37

Believe me, Dublin's public transport's LIGHT YEARS ahead of Cork (and possibly other cities in Ireland too)

If Dublin Bus' system is a joke, Bus Eireann's Cork City/Suburban services are beyond a joke.

We've had similar curtailment of routes due to antisocial behaviour. They thought nothing of stranding elderly and other vunerable customers in their homes. Why can't they just do something about the anti-social behaviour if it is a problem e.g. install proper driver protection / CCTV that is actually switched on and get the gardai involved quickly.

We've no electronic tickets, it's all pay at the door nonsense.

They're constantly late, the busses are grossly undersized for the amount of traffic that uses them and would use them if they were remotely pleasant to use.

The "Bus Full - Extra Bus following" lies that scrolls across the display as a bus whizzes past your stop and you end up having to call a taxi in the rain is another unique Bus Eireann Cork practice.

There are a % of drivers who, thanks to management's total fear of the unions, treat passengers/paying customers like dirt and get away with it. If they worked in any other company they'd be long since fired.

I remember as a 15 year old I was entitled to reduced fares. One particularly driver simply wouldn't believe any of my ID. Accused me of using my brothers and I constantly had to pay full fare. I was in a school uniform!!!! When I took it up with the driver he simply threatened to throw me off the bus and get me banned from all BE services.

I took it up (As did my parents) with Bus Eireann and got nowhere.

(This was back in the mid 90s)

sean · 24-12-2005, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas Sheridan

Every country is Western Europe has far superior public transport to Ireland. Not just Germany.

Yes. But the Germans really put us to shame.

22-12-2005, 23:58	#2
ThomasS Posts: n/a	It mattered not if you were in Germany for 9 years or 999 years. As long as CIE control public transport in Ireland there was, and never will going to be real progress. I was going out to see my bother in Tallaght a few years back and I got the 77B (?) bus. The bus is meant to go to West Dublin and there had been an attack on a bus driver the previous night. I have no problem with BAC drivers being pissed off about this. But did they have to terminate all buses in the The Square and then say nothing to the passengers? So we sat in the Square carpark in the bus all looking confused and at each other wondering what was going on. So I start to see passengers leaving the bus and I eventually followed. There were about 40 buses parked inthe square and about 15 yards away I see a group of men and I recognised one of them as the driver of my bus. So politiely I go over and ask as we going to Raheen? Apart from interupting a surly grunting session with his fellow CIE neaderthals with a nasty momentary glace in my direction he stated nothing. So I ask again. One of the other drivers replied in a nasty and arrogant manner "no fookin buses past the Square tonight cos of anti-social behavior". Now the irony of this statement struck me as odd considering how the passengers were marooned, not told why and then treated like ***. How were we to blame to what happened to the driver in West Tallaght the night before, whom I and 99.99 of the people on the bus would of had total sympathy for. So as I had determined that my journey was terminated I asked for some of the fare I paid back. Was told that the money is in a sealed box. I was looked upon as if I was a headcase for requesting this and how dare I ask. By the same shower of pricks who dumped us in the Square. Doing that to the passengers, including pregnant women, young kids and older folks on a winter's night was perfectly acceptable to them. Next morning I called Dublin Bus with all the details on the bus, route the driver refused to give me his name. Nothing ever came of it. A few weeks later they were marching through the streets of Dublin with posters of Seamus Brennan made up like Hitler demanding that 'CIE Not Be Broken Up to SAVE PUBLIC TRANSPORT'. You should have stayed in Germany and I should have bought a car a lot sooner. CIE are a disaster. I am simply amazed how some people out there are nostalgic, almost romantic about this appalling organisation which has served our nation so badly and will continue to do so till we get a Government with guts who can take the unions on and removed CIE from the face of the earth once and for all. Last edited by ThomasS : 23-12-2005 at 00:08.*

24-12-2005, 13:37	#6
MrX Really Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 585	Believe me, Dublin's public transport's LIGHT YEARS ahead of Cork (and possibly other cities in Ireland too) If Dublin Bus' system is a joke, Bus Eireann's Cork City/Suburban services are beyond a joke. We've had similar curtailment of routes due to antisocial behaviour. They thought nothing of stranding elderly and other vunerable customers in their homes. Why can't they just do something about the anti-social behaviour if it is a problem e.g. install proper driver protection / CCTV that is actually switched on and get the gardai involved quickly. We've no electronic tickets, it's all pay at the door nonsense. They're constantly late, the busses are grossly undersized for the amount of traffic that uses them and would use them if they were remotely pleasant to use. The "Bus Full - Extra Bus following" lies that scrolls across the display as a bus whizzes past your stop and you end up having to call a taxi in the rain is another unique Bus Eireann Cork practice. There are a % of drivers who, thanks to management's total fear of the unions, treat passengers/paying customers like dirt and get away with it. If they worked in any other company they'd be long since fired. I remember as a 15 year old I was entitled to reduced fares. One particularly driver simply wouldn't believe any of my ID. Accused me of using my brothers and I constantly had to pay full fare. I was in a school uniform!!!! When I took it up with the driver he simply threatened to throw me off the bus and get me banned from all BE services. I took it up (As did my parents) with Bus Eireann and got nowhere. (This was back in the mid 90s) Last edited by MrX : 24-12-2005 at 19:53.

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22-12-2005, 23:32	#1
apwhite New to the board Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15	A Christmas Tale: My (re-)introduction to Irish Public Transport #1 After living in Germany for 9 years, a country where public transport generally starts at 4.30 am and finishes at 1am, a country where one travel ticket for 2 EUR will let you change transport modes as many times as you want to get to your destination within 90 minutes, a country where you can get the 550 km from Frankfurt to Berlin in 3:30 hours whilst sipping a freshly poured glass of beer, brought to you by a waiter in the subdudely lit restaurant car of a sexy white train, I arrived back to Dublin at the beginning of this year. Everything looked all shiny, spanking new cars on the road, metallic Luas gliding and honking by, SeaCats speeding off to Hollyhead and Dublin busses without rust! Ain't progress wonderful? But on one of my first trips around Dublin I was brought back to the horrors of Irish Public Transport with a bang... * A true story * All I wanted to do was get from Blackrock to Parnell square and back again. Easy. I decided to do it by bus to save me the walk to the Dart station. First mistake. After bravely standing at the bus stop for 15 minutes a bus approached. A 45. First problem - where does it terminate? "An Lar" is a great f*king use in a medium sized 1.5 million inhabitant city. I hopped on and waited to be surprised and see where the journey would take me. My first surprise was the fact that I handed 2 EUR to the driver and he issued me a ticket, I was about to ask where my change was when he told me the 2nd half of it was a receipt... Anyone know of other countries (not including those muppets in the UK) where exact change is required to travel?? The second surprise was the amount of bloody bus stops on the route. 10 seconds after leaving Roches Stores we were stopped again at a bus stop where there are no visible houses in the vicinity - a large wall behind it, Blackrock park in front and minimal housing left & right. This carried on ad nauseum. Does anyone know Dublin's bus stop per km ratio??? It must be the highest in the world. We carried on through Booterstown and Ballsbridge and I quickly observed a quirky phenomenon - bus leapfrog, it seems as if one bus is always overtalking the other. It stops at the next busstop and the bus behind it then has to swing out to overtake and the fun starts again. I know of no other country where this happens... Anyway we made it as far as Bewleys hotel when the fun started. A lot of people wanted to get on and there was a throng waiting to get off. I always understood that God had invented the world with 2 types of doors - the IN door and the OUT door. But obviously Dublin Bus knows better so we all waited while the people squeezed by each other. A tourist family from Scotland got on and asked the driver for 2 adults and 2 kids, the driver told them the price and told them exact change, no notes. How the fck are you expected to have 5.30 (or whatever) change in coins in your pocket for a bus journey? They managed to scrape it together (even with wee Hamish donating 60 cents from his hard earned pocket money). The ride went smoothly for about all of about 20 seconds until the RDS. Then the driver just stopped the bus and told us to get out. I thought he was throwing a hissy-fit due to excessive bus-leapfrogging but I quickly learned it was simply the end of his shift.... Heh????? Imagine your denist half extracting a mouldy molar and him then telling you that he has to clock off... There is a dentist next door that will carry on from where he left off. Also another world first for me. I presume those weirdo European bus drivers have to be slave-driven to complete the journey before they can clock off... The rest of the journey was uneventful and we made it into An Lar. And in the 30 minute journey I was already planning an open letter to Dublin Bus. But wait, I had to get back to Blackrock, the fun was only beginning.... TBC Last edited by apwhite : 23-12-2005 at 11:58.

23-12-2005, 01:08	#3
sean Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Dublin Posts: 707	Everything you say is true. Public transport in Dublin especially is a joke. From someone used to German transport, this reintroduction must have been a real bummer. The Germans put us to shame.

23-12-2005, 21:15	#4
Maskhadov Regular Poster Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 74	I was in Germany for a couple of months and travelled about while I was there. I have to totally agree, Germany is kick ass when it comes to public transport. I was very impressed with their whole attitude and the thinking they put into things. I wish we just had more germans over here to do all the planning and investment for us. Our public transport is slap stick

23-12-2005, 23:41	#5
ThomasS Posts: n/a	Every country is Western Europe has far superior public transport to Ireland. Not just Germany.