Endof the road for the 46A...
Major overhaul will see iconic bus routes renamed
DUBLIN is set to lose its most famous bus routes under radical new plans aimed at improving the city’s public transport system.
Routes such as the 46A, made famous by the Bagatelle’s popular ballad Summer In Dublin, will be replaced by new names, with the highest frequency bus routes given letters from ‘A’ to ‘G’ along with a digit.
Alongside the change in the route system, there will also be amendments to fare structure and frequency of buses.
The new route system being proposed by the National Transport Authority aims to greatly lower the number of buses travelling through the city centre, reducing congestion.
An increase in ‘orbital’ routes surrounding the city would mean that passengers will no longer be required to come into the city to get out to their destination, but rather could move from one area to another.
The introduction of these orbital routes would allow trips, for example, across the city’s northside, from Dublin City University to the Malahide Road, without commuters having to travel into the city centre and back out again.
In some cases, areas may lose existing direct routes, requiring people to take two buses to reach the centre of the city, but the NTA has stressed that this will end up being faster than the current system due to greater frequency of buses. All of Dublin will be no more than one interchange from the city centre and almost all areas within the M50 will continue to have a direct route.
The scheme will be based around seven ‘super-frequent spines’ – along which buses would travel every four to eight minutes.
Buses from areas in the outskirts of the city would connect with the lines taking commuters to the city centre.
The seven high-speed spine routes will be labelled A to G and buses which branch off these routes will feature the letter indicating the main route and a number showing its minor route. For example, ‘F’ would indicate that all buses beginning with this letter would go through Kimmage, so commuters know the general direction of the route.
Commuters going to nearby