Christmas & New Year Travel 2012 - Chat

[on the move]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

as for the rest.... Temple Bar has got all the night links and several taxi ranks around it. have you actually been in o'connell street after midnight? The only thing going are the fast food outlets from abbey street to the bridge.

Lots of times. At the weekend after gigs at the Point, parties and sports events, it's as busy as a Saturday afternoon, as most major cities are in Europe. Yet there's only nitelinks and expensive taxis around after 1am here, and 24/7 transport there. Doesn't add up.

Your use of "public order" suggests you find that reason as doubtful, whcih is exactly what i started this off by saying. The only reason why there are no late night red line Luas is because it lost money hand over fist.

There are similar levels of anti social behaviour on the Red Line in the evening and on bus services.

When I was on Red Night Luas services, there was more passenges on them than services earlier in the evening. There were also at least 4 STT staff on each of them plus CSO's, and even Gardai, so there was no possibility of anti-social behaviour whatsoever. So the myth that all hell breaks loose only after 12.30 doesn't wash with me.

[Mark Gleeson]

There were also at least 4 STT staff on each of them plus CSO's, and even Gardai,

Thats the problem, having to massively increase staffing levels to ensure safety. The numbers don't stack up

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by on the move

Lots of times. At the weekend after gigs at the Point, parties and sports events, it's as busy as a Saturday afternoon, as most major cities are in Europe. Yet there's only nitelinks and expensive taxis around after 1am here, and 24/7 transport there. Doesn't add up.



When I was on Red Night Luas services, there was more passenges on them than services earlier in the evening. There were also at least 4 STT staff on each of them plus CSO's, and even Gardai, so there was no possibility of anti-social behaviour whatsoever. So the myth that all hell breaks loose only after 12.30 doesn't wash with me.

yes, we all agree there should be 24/7 services.

on this thread there are two different arguments being made as to why there isnt. one is that its down to cosy semi state union traditions. thats blown out of the water by the luas. the other is anti-social behaviour, which doesnt add up either.

the reality is that, unlike other cities, dublin really isnt a 24 hour city. A few night clubs, a few burger joints and a few 24 hour shops doesnt cut it in relation to passenger numbers for bueses/luas/dart running all night.

its simple economics. before taxi deregulation there was a massive amount of busses on the nitelink. as soon as one filled up the next one would pull in. thats over. during the boom years there was a decent service on the two luas lines. thats gone too. if there was a profit to be made those services would be running.

[on the move]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

yes, we all agree there should be 24/7 services.

the reality is that, unlike other cities, dublin really isnt a 24 hour city. A few night clubs, a few burger joints and a few 24 hour shops doesnt cut it in relation to passenger numbers for buses/luas/dart running all night.

So what does?

Dublin is a major European city. It's not London Paris or Berlin granted, but it is the main hub of activity in this country, and when there are major public events on at night, the city's transport system struggles to cope, because extra services are not made available to meet clear demand at the time.

Even if Dublin wasn't a 24h city, it is still one of the few capital cities in Europe where public transport on 25.12 does not exist in any form. I can't defend that on any grounds, economic or otherwise.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by on the move

So what does?

Dublin is a major European city. It's not London Paris or Berlin granted, but it is the main hub of activity in this country, and when there are major public events on at night, the city's transport system struggles to cope, because extra services are not made available to meet clear demand at the time.

Even if Dublin wasn't a 24h city, it is still one of the few capital cities in Europe where public transport on 25.12 does not exist in any form. I can't defend that on any grounds, economic or otherwise.

you seem to be wanting two things here.

how many major public events are there at night? Concerts in the 02/aviva/croke park would be major events, and you would imagine the number crunchers in BAC/Luas/IE have considered this. Outside of these events, and they are not every weekend for example, there would not be anything like the demand.

As for the 25th December, if you want to go into the city centre and wander around the empty streets on your own, off you go. Why the state should provide a bus and rail service for an almost non existant take up is beyond me.

[on the move]

Originally Posted by Thomas J Stamp

you seem to be wanting two things here.

how many major public events are there at night? Concerts in the 02/aviva/croke park would be major events, and you would imagine the number crunchers in BAC/Luas/IE have considered this. Outside of these events, and they are not every weekend for example, there would not be anything like the demand.

As for the 25th December, if you want to go into the city centre and wander around the empty streets on your own, off you go. Why the state should provide a bus and rail service for an almost non existant take up is beyond me.

The reason the streets are (almost) empty, is because you can't get in or out of them.

Christmas means different things to different people. Some people think it's the biggest period of the year, others simply see it as simply another time of the year, where life goes on.

As for the major events, what about the NYE in College Green? Phoenix Park/Point Depot gigs? Croke Park/Lansdowne Road?? There's plenty on, on a regular basis.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by on the move

The reason the streets are (almost) empty, is because you can't get in or out of them.

Christmas means different things to different people. Some people think it's the biggest period of the year, others simply see it as simply another time of the year, where life goes on.

As for the major events, what about the NYE in College Green? Phoenix Park/Point Depot gigs? Croke Park/Lansdowne Road?? There's plenty on, on a regular basis.

NYE tends to happen once a year. Croke Park/Aviva Gigs are few and far between. Phoenix park even moreso. Point Depot I already mentioned.

To say that "some" people see christmas as the biggest time of the year is a bit odd, I think we can safely put it into the "most" if not "vastly overwhelmingly most" category. But, if you want to call black white just to keep this thread going, off you go.