Routes 207, 236, 237, 238, 239, 250, 270:
Former Harristown Alexander R-class bodied Volvo Olympian, RV629, is seen at the Liffey Valley Shoping Centre terminus of Route 239 on the 13th October 2012. It would only have days left in service after this photo was taken. RV629 was delivered to Dublin Bus in late 1999. It was loaned to Bus Eireann for use on their Route 103 service to Ashbourne, being the precursor to their order for DD class double-deckers for this route. It eventually went into service in Broadstone when the 19A was amalgamated with the 155 in April 2001. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening in October 2004 and was withdrawn in October 2012.
This article gives a historical account of the feeder services to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. By association it also deals with the former Route 250 which was the precursor to these services and also the 207, which though a Lucan service was amalgamated into these feeder services. The article begins in the summer of 1993, though it should be noted that Blanchardstown did have a local service prior to this, with the 220 having been introduced in 1990. This service will have its own feature on this site in time.
The 250 was introduced on Tuesday 8th June 1993 operating from St. Joseph's Hospital to Ashtown, operated by the MB (MCW Metrobus)-class of buses out of Phibsborough Depot. Its introduction coincided with the launch of the first CitySwift service, Route 39. Its principle requirement was to link Blanchardstown with Castleknock. Prior to the introduction of the CitySwift 39, Route 39 operated via Castleknock Road and Castleknock Village towards Blanchardstown Village. A few buses an hour operated the more direct Route 39B, which was a 39 which avoided Castleknock continuing along the Navan Road at the Halfway House to Blanchardstown.
The CitySwift 39 took this direct Navan Road routing to Blanchardstown, which then meant that a link between Castleknock and Clonsilla, Hartstown and Blanchardstown Village had been lost. Thus the 250 was introduced to maintain this former connection. It was also the only service to St. Joseph's Hospital. When the CitySwift 39 was introduced, all services terminated at Clonsilla (St. Mary's Church). It took a few months for the 39 to be extended to the hospital. The reason the 250 starting on a Tuesday was that the CitySwift 39 route had been introduced that Sunday 6th June 1993, the Monday being a Bank Holiday. With no Sunday service on Route 250, the first day of operation was the Tuesday. The map below shows the full routing (click on map for larger version):
Route 250: St. Joseph's Hospital, Clonsilla Road, Shelerin Road, Hartstown Road, Huntstown Way, Hurtstown Road, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Road North, Blackcourt Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Snugboro Road, Blanchardstown Main Street, Castleknock Road, Navan Road (Kempton), Castleknock Road, Blanchardstown Main Street, Snugboro Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Blackcourt Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Blanchardstown Road South, Huntstown Road, Huntstown Way, Hartstown Road, Shelerin Road, Clonsilla Road, St. Joseph's Hospital.
Former Harristown Alexander R-class bodied Volvo Olympian, RV625, is seen in its very final days operating Route 238 on the 6th October 2012 at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. It was delivered to Broadstone in late 1999, but didn't initially enter service. Expanded peak-hour services on Lucan corridor saw it enter service in February 2000 at Broadstone. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening at the end of October 2004 and remained there until its withdrawal, a week or so after this photo in October 2012. It was acquired by Callinan's Coaches which currently uses it on a Park & Ride service between the M3 Parkway and Intel Leixlip.
An interesting variant in the timetable concerned two departures daily in both directions which went via Porterstown Church. This was as a replacement service for Route 80, which had been withdrawn as part of the CitySwift 39 changes. Whereas the 80 had terminated at Clonsilla, the 250 using small buses was able to make a U-turn just after Porterstown Church where the road widens for some car parking. The lack of services to Porterstown was notable and in the second half of 1994, the 250 was ammended such that it operated between St. Joseph's Hospital and Porterstown Church, though due to the necessity for buses to run light to and from Phibsborough depot, some services operated to/from Myo's pub only. The map below shows the full routing (click on map for larger version):
Route 250: St. Joseph's Hospital, Clonsilla Road, Shelerin Road, Hartstown Road, Huntstown Way, Hurtstown Road, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Road North, Blackcourt Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Snugboro Road, Blanchardstown Main Street, Castleknock Road, College Road, Carpenterstown Road, Porterstown Road, Porterstown Church, Porterstown Road, Carpenterstown Road, College Road, Castleknock Road, Blanchardstown Main Street, Snugboro Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Blackcourt Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Blanchardstown Road South, Huntstown Road, Huntstown Way, Hartstown Road, Shelerin Road, Clonsilla Road, St. Joseph's Hospital.
Route 207 was introduced on the 1st July 1996. It was operated out of Conyngham Road using ME (Eurocoach-bodied Mercedes Benz 709D)-class minibuses, from the 123 allocation. Its introduction, like the 250's, was necessitated due to the launch of a CitySwift service. This time it was Route 25A which was launched on the 30th June 1996, with VA-class single deckers. The 25A had previously been City Centre - Arthur Griffith Park via Lucan Village and Leixlip Road. The new routing saw the bus serve the new Ballyowen Road, Castle Road areas, thus avoiding Lucan Village which was left for Route 25 to serve. But the link between Lucan Village, SuperQuinn and Arthur Griffith Park was severed, which called for the introduction of Route 207.
The terminus of Route 207 was on Lucan Main Street, at the triangle outside Carroll's Butchers, now gone. This stop is still served by Route 25 outbound and Route 239 to Liffey Valley. The route then went right, as had route 25A previously, serving the Leixlip Road. It turned left off the Leixlip Road before the Maxol Service Station onto Tandy's Lane. It then turned left off Tandy's Lane onto the Lucan By-Pass from which it turned right onto Newcastle Road at a set of traffic lights. Access to the Lucan By-Pass at this location is no longer possible for traffic, however a few years ago a bus gate was installed which allows buses to still exit off Tandy's Lane. It is however unused by any service. On the return, buses exited from the Lucan By-Pass onto the Dodsborough Road. The ramp between the N4 and Dodsborough Road is nowadays only an on-ramp, however previously it was bi-directional.
Eurocoach (Donegal)-bodied Mercedes Benz 709D minibus, ME5, is seen operating Route 207 at the Lucan Main Street (Carroll's Butchers) terminus on the 17th August 1996, a few weeks after the introduction of the route. ME5 was delivered in the autumn of 1993, however did not enter service until the introduction of Route 123 in February 1994 operating out of Conyngham Road depot. It transferred to Broadstone with Route 123 in May 2000. It was withdrawn upon delivery of WV21-40 for Route 123 in December 2000, being sold to Avondale, Greenock in Scotland.
The 207 joined the CitySwift 25A at Lucan SuperQuinn and followed the routing to Arthur Griffith Park, thus following the previous 25A's routing between Lucan Village and Arthur Griffith Park in its entirety. Whereas the 25A then went via the old Lucan Newlands Road, the 207 provided a service to Esker Lane and Willsbrook Park, before heading to Foxborough via the Penny Hill pub. The 207 terminated in Foxborough Estate, initially by performing a U-turn after the Centra stop in the estate. After the Centra there is a notch in the footpath opposite a road to the right which provided a wide enough turning circle for the MEs to turn. It should be noted that Foxborough was not finished at this stage, the road did not exit onto the Balgaddy Road as it does now, and Route 25A did not serve the estate on the way to Lucan Superquinn. The exact routing is shown in the map below (click on map for larger version):
Route 207: Lucan Main Street (Carroll's Butchers), Leixlip Road, Tandy's Lane, Lucan By-Pass, Newcastle Road, Esker Road, Esker Lane, Willsbrook Road, Ballyowen Road, Castle Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Foxborough Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Castle Road, Ballyowen Road, Willsbrook Road, Esker Lane, Esker Road, Newcastle Road, Lucan By-Pass, Dodsborough Road, Leixlip Road, Lucan Main Street.
The 250 was withdrawn on Tuesday 15th October 1996, the route having started and then finished on a Tuesday. This time the reason was because Blanchardstown Shopping Centre opened on Wednesday 16th October 1996. Blanchardstown Shopping Centre was then the largest shopping centre in Ireland. It was on a different scale to The Square Shopping Centre, or the Omni Shopping Centre which had opened a few years previously. It heralded a new concept for shopping in Dublin, with the City Centre being the main focus of shopping prior to this. Dublin Bus, like they had done with The Square and The Omni, re-organised their services to best serve the centre, including terminating the CitySwift 39 route there, though this was then soon changed to be via the centre.
As part of the route reorganisation, Route 250 was cancelled and instead Blanchardstown gained three new orbital services which terminated at the shopping centre. Blanchardstown had invested in providing suitable space for buses at the Blue Entrance to the centre, on the southern side of the square. The 39 terminated on the shopping centre side of the road, whereas these orbital services terminated opposite on The Plex side of the road. The three new orbital services begain on Wednesday 16th October 1996, and were numbered 237, 238 and 239. The 237 was so numbered because it served Castleknock and Laurel Lodge, the 238 because it served Ladyswell and Corduff, while the 239 served Clonsilla. The exact routings are shown in the map below (click on map for larger version):
Route 237: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Blanchardstown Main Street, Navan Road, Auburn Avenue, Castleknock Road, Laurel Lodge Road, Coolmine Road, Clonsilla Road, Clonsilla Industrial Estate, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road).
Route 238: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Church Road, Layswell Road (looping at roundabout), Church Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Ballycoolin Road, Snugboro Road, Corduff, Blackcourt Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (North Road, then West, then south, looping at roundabout and terminating outside The Plex).
Route 239: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Blanchardstown Main Street, Laurel Lodge Road, Carpenterstown Road, Luttrellstown, Clonsilla Road, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road).
Alexander bodied Mercedes Benz 709D minibuses, MA8 and MA3, are seen on the first Saturday operation of the Blanchardstown local services at Blanchardstown Centre on the 19th October 1996 operating routes 237 and 238 respectively. The 238 and 237 always departed at the same time in the original timetables, as did the other 238 and the 239. MA3 entered service on Route 120 in October 1993 operated by Phibsborough Depot, while MA8 remained in store. This was because not all the 20 MAs were required and the allocation of buses in service was not in numerical order. However, with the launch of Route 155 in April 1994, and the migration of the higher number MAs to Donnybrook, the lower numbers including MA8 were the allocation to the 120. MA3 and MA8 were withdrawn from operation with the first delivery of 01-D AVs to Phibsborough in the autumn of 2001. MA8 would go on to operate a town service with a private operator in Tralee.
The 238 operated every 30mins, whereas the 237 and 239 were every hour, both routes serving Laurel Lodge. Each route had 30mins to complete its loop, and the routes were interworked. The routes were operated by minibuses from Phibsborough's allocation for Routes 120 and 134, inially MA (Alexander bodied Mercedes Benz 709D)-class buses with some ME class. As the 121 and 122 were converted to minibuses, the MV-class was also a common allocation.
Liffey Valley Shopping Centre was the next major retail outlet located on the outskirts of the city on the M50 belt. It opened at the end of 1998. However, there was much less fanfare to this opening from a bus sense, then there had been for the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. The centre was located just off the N4, and thus the Lucan Road routes all stopped on the main N4 road close to the centre. Still to this day there is no covered walk-way between these bus stops and the centre itself. The 78A was entended in, the 210 joining a few months later. Interestingly, Routes 76/A/B was not ammended to operate via Liffey Valley, the 78A and the 210 being deemed sufficient. There had been talk of extending the poorly patronised Route 207 in order to boost passenger numbers, however this never occured.
Conyngham Road lost its minibus allocation with the loss of Route 123 to Broadstone in early May 2000. From this date Route 207 was converted to big bus operation, usually ADs and VAs though also KCs and RHs. Larger buses no doubt meant even less financial sense of this route. It also meant that turning at the triangle was more difficult which sometimes meant buses traversed the whole village in order to swing at the junction of Lucan Road and Chapel Hill. Given the large schools on Chapel Hill, it is always somewhat of a mystery as to why the 207 never served here, possibly continuing onto Woodies DIY in order to turn about.
Former Harristown Alexander R-body Volvo Olympian, RV624, is seen in the "country" operating Route 239 in Westmanstown, Co. Dublin, on the 22nd September 2012. RV624 was delivered to Broadstone in late 1999, but didn't initially enter service. Expanded peak-hour services on Lucan corridor saw it enter service in February 2000 at Broadstone. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening at the end of October 2004 and remained there until its withdrawal in a few weeks after this photo in October 2012.
The 239 and the 207 were amalgamated on the 18th September 2000 into a new route 239 operated from Phibsborough depot. The new route linked up the then two largest shopping centres in Ireland, though not in a very direct way. The routing taken to link the 239 and 207 routes took buses via Westmanstown Golf Course and some narrow country roads as depicted above. The route also went straight down the Adamstown Road between Lucan Village and Lucan SuperQuinn, avoiding the meandering routing via Leixlip Road.
A new route, Route 270, was also introduced from this date. It operated from Blanchardstown Centre to Dunboyne via the Littlepace Estate. It was well overdue. The estate of Littlepace/Castaheany had grown at a spectacular rate in the late 90s. Save for a few 70Xs, and 70As that came in during the peak periods there was no other service in the estate. It should also be noted that it was a number of years before these phantom 70As (or 70s via Littlepace) actually made a timetable and were given the 70A designation. Before this they were untimetabled and therefore liable to not showing at all. If you lived in Littlepace there was a reasonably short distance to the 70 at the Clonee N3 Interchange. If you lived at the opposite end in Bramblefield, there was a short walk to Harstown and the long and windy Route 39 to the City.
To be fair to Dublin Bus, serving the Littlepace Estate was not easy. The estate, when almost complete, only had one exit at the Clonee N3 interchange. This was onto a roundabout, which caused incredible delays. It was a number of years before this was replaced with traffic lights and thus those buses that did enter the estate were always subject to incredible delays. The concept of the 270 was to link the estate with the Shopping Centre and then provide further capacity between Dunboyne and Blanchardstown Centre. It is by far the busiest of the Blanchardstown locals, being almost instantaneously so. These changes introduced the first Sunday services on the Blanchardstown Centre routes, with Routes 237, 238 and 270 having Sunday services. The 239 did not a gain a Sunday service, and in fact to this day has remained Monday-Saturday only. The new routings are shown in the map below (click on map for larger version):
Route 237: As before.
Route 238: As before.
Route 239:Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex), Blanchardstown Road South, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Road, Laurel Lodge Road, Castleknock Road, College Road, Luttrellstown, R121, right after Westmanstown Golf Club entrance, Westmanstown, left towards Lucan just after Collin's Bridge, follow old route to Lucan Village via Barhnill Cross Roads, Lucan Bridge, Lucan Main Street, Adamstown Road, Newcastle Road, Esker Road, Esker Lane, Willsbrook Road, Ballyowen Road, Castle Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Fonthill Road, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Fonthill Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Castle Road, Ballyowen Road, Willsbrook Road, Esker Lane, Esker Road, Newcastle Road, Adamstown Road, Leixlip Road, Lucan Main Street, Lucan Bridge, old route towards Collin's Bridge via Barnhill Cross Roads, right just prior to Collin's Bridge towards Westmanstown Golf Course, left onto R121, Luttrellstown, College Road, Castleknock Road, Laurel Lodge Road, Cooline Road, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
Route 270:Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex), Blanchardstown Road South, N3 (returning via Mulhuddart Village), Clonee N3 Interchange, Littlepace Road (turning around at Bramblefield roudabout), Clonee N3 Interchange, Clonee Main Street, Station Road, Dublin Road, Main Street Dunboyne (terminating at Church), Dublin Road, Station Road, Clonee Main Street, Littlepace Road (turning around at Bramblefield roudabout), Clonee N3 Interchange, N3, Old Navan Road (Mulhuddart Village), Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
Former Harristown Alexander R-bodied Volvo Olympain, RV574, is seen on the Littlepace Road operating Route 270 on the 3rd November 2012. RV574 was delivered in September 1999, however it had been incorrectly fitted with a narrow destination display. It was put into store, the destination front panel being modified. It finally entered service at the end of February 2000 when Broadstone took over operation of the 15X, 49X and 50X. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening in October 2004. It was one of the last three RVs in operation in Harristown, along with RV587 and RV589. It had the distinction of operating the last RV service in Harristown, being required to cover a breakdown on the 83 on the 26th November 2012, operating a gallop from Kimmage to Harristown at 10am. This made it the 2nd last RV in service with Dublin Bus, RV560 lasting a few more weeks.
The 236 started in late 2000/early 2001. It was a peak hour only route which served Ballycoolin IDA Business and Technology Park. The IDA invested heavily in the areas around Blanchardstown to bring in technology companies and lead to mass employment on the outskirts of Blanchardstown. The 236 was termed "FactoryLink", the term "Link" being added to most new routes around this time. It was a bi-directional circular service. The 101 had previously been the only other bi-directional circular service, however it had been withdrawn in early 2000. The 236 brought the concept back, albeit in a different form given that services went anti-clockwise in the morning and clockwise in the evening. The map below shows the full routing, the arrows indicating the direction of the morning and evening services (click on map for larger version):
Route 236 (FactoryLink) Morning: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Snugboro Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Ballycoolin Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Centre.
Route 236 (FactoryLink) Evening: Blanchardstown Centre (South Road), Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Road North, Ballycoolin Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (serving North and West roads, terminating on the South Road.).
Route 237: As before.
Route 238: As before.
Route 239: As before.
Route 270: As before.
Phibsborough's Wright Gemini-bodied Volvo B9TL, VG2, is seen at the Blanchardstown Centre having operated a Route 236 service from Tyrellstown on the 13th August 2009. VG2 was delivered to Dublin Bus in November 2008, entering service at Phibsborough Depot. It still operates from this depot.
Tyrellstown was a large estate built north of Mulhuddart. It had first received a service in 2002 in the form of the 38C. The 40D would join in 2003. May 2003 saw the 38C extended from a peak hour service to an all day service, with a weekend service. This timetable was introduced on Monday 26th May 2003. Urbus operated a premium service which served Tyrellstown, operating via Blanchardstown Centre to Dublin Airport. At the time there was confusion in the Department of Transport, which meant they were reluctant to issue licenses which they felt were duplicative. However different the scope of the two services, the UrBus service held up the extension of Blanchardstown local services for some time. The new 38C timetable saw interworking with Route 236, with some buses operating from the City before operating a few laps on the 236 and then returning to the city. However, it was over a month after the expanded 38C before the 236 was in operation, starting on Monday 30th June.
The 236 terminus was at the shopping district of the Tyrellstown estate which it shared with the 38C and 40D (for a time). The 236 number caused great confusion, and it is not known exactly why the number was chosen. The service is so different to the FactoryLink version of the 236 that I have colored them differently in the map below.
Route 236: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Snugboro Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Ballycoolin Road, Cruiserath Road, R121 to 2nd roundabout entrance to Tyrellstown, left at this roundabout to Tyrellstown Boulevard, right at next roundabout to terminate outside Paddy Power shop (set-down only), next right back and then left onto Tyrellstown Boulevard (first stop), R121, Cruiserath Road, Ballycoolin Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (North Road, then West, then south, looping at roundabout and terminating outside The Plex).
Route 236 (FactoryLink): As before.
Route 237: As before.
Route 238: As before.
Route 239: As before.
Route 270: As before.
Former Harristown Alexander R-type Volvo Olympian, RV630, is seen at the Snugboro Road interchange of the N3 operating Route 237 on the 2nd October 2010, the last month of this route's operation. RV630 was delivered at the very end of 1999 in White Wedding Bus livery. It was the last RV ever to enter service in Dublin Bus, only making it into service on the 23rd October 2000 operating Euro services from Broadstone depot. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening on the 31st October 2004, again initially mainly confined to Euro duties. It was withdrawn from service in October 2012.
Routes 237, 238, 239 and 270 migrated from Phibsboro to Harristown upon Harristown's opening on the 31st October 2004. Five Mercedes Vario minibuses MV 60/62/65/68/70/76 transferred over to Harristown to operate the Blanchardstown services.
The 239 became a problem for route reliability. Even in good traffic, it was problematic due to its length, however it was especially plauged by traffic. First of all it had the two large shopping centres to cope with. The Celtic Tiger had brought much larger car ownership, with multiple cars per household now the norm. This gave rise to great traffic problems around shopping centres, most notably at Blanchardstown with long delays being the norm. The routing around Lucan was also the most used rat-run in the city. Bridges across the liffey on the west side of the city are still at a premium in Dublin, with Chapelizod, the M50, Lucan Village and Leixlip Village being the only examples over a 16km distance. The M50 bridge was tolled, which not only created a rat-run to save money, but also due to the long tailbacks created by the mostly cash transactions lead to many people wishing to avoid the M50 to save time. Thus Lucan Village became completely clogged for most of the day, with the 239 suffering quite badly.
Thus Route 239 was given a new routing from the 13th February 2006. The new routing served Laraghcon estate, which allowed the bus to avoid the very narrow and steep hill in Sunday's Well. The routing around Lucan was slightly modified. It now did not serve the Ballyowen Road, instead it continued straight ahead at the Penny Hill to serve Esker Glebe before rejoining its former routing at Esker Lane. Finally, the routing via Luttrellstown was removed due to low patronage, ending continuous service in the area from the late 1920s. The routing instead from Westmanstown Golf course operated via the Clonsilla Road and the level crossing, before turning right onto the new Porterstown Link Road, Diswellstown Road, Carpenterstown Road and back onto its former route at Coolmine Road. The final change concerned the routing at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, which allowed the 239 to take a quicker routing into the centre via the Snugboro Road Extension from Coolmine Industrial Estate. It should also be noted that by this time Route 236 was now serving the Blanchardstown Coporate Park. The map below shows the modified routing (click on map for a larger version):
Route 236: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex, then West, and North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Snugboro Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Ballycoolin Road, Kishane Way, Blanchardstown Coporate Park, Cruiserath Road, R121 to 2nd roundabout entrance to Tyrellstown, left at this roundabout to Tyrellstown Boulevard, right at next roundabout to terminate outside Paddy Power shop (set-down only), next right back and then left onto Tyrellstown Boulevard (first stop), R121, Cruiserath Road, Blanchardstown Corporate Park, Kishane Way, Ballycoolin Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (North Road, then West, then south, looping at roundabout and terminating outside The Plex).
Route 236 (FactoryLink): As before.
Route 237: As before.
Route 238: As before.
Route 239: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (South Road - Terminus outside Plex), Snugboro Road Extension, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Road, Carpenterstown Road, Diswellstown Road, Porterstown Link Road, Clonsilla Road, R121, right after Westmanstown Golf Club entrance, Westmanstown, left towards Lucan just after Collin's Bridge, L3005, Laraghcon Estate, Lucan Bridge, Lucan Main Street, Adamstown Road, Newcastle Road, Esker Road, Esker Lane, Willsbrook Road, Castle Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Fonthill Road, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Fonthill Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Castle Road, Willsbrook Road, Esker Lane, Esker Road, Newcastle Road, Adamstown Road, Leixlip Road, Lucan Main Street, Lucan Bridge, Laraghcon Estate, L3004, right just prior to Collin's Bridge towards Westmanstown Golf Course, left onto R121, Clonsilla Road, Porterstown Link Road, Diswellstown Road, Coolmine Road, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Snugboro Road Extension, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
Route 270: As before.
Former Harristown Alexander R-bodied Volvo Olympain, RV629, is seen operating Route 238 on Tyrellstown Boulevard on the 31st August 2012.
November 2005 had seen Harristown take delivery of WV4, WV5, WV6 and WV7 from Ringsend, though they were initially used on a Christmas Park & Ride before being used on the Blanchardstown Centre services. The 239 had the honour of having the very last minibus operation in Dublin Bus. Its routing down the steep hill to the Barnhill Cross Roads was too narrow for larger buses, so even with the WVs appearing on the other routes, the 239 was still allocated a minibus. The new routing via Laraghcon which begun on the 13th February 2006 meant that Saturday 11th February 2006 was the last day of minibus operation. MV65 had the honour of operating the last 239 of the evening, thus being the last ever minibus in service.
Mercedes Benz Vario, MV66, is seen operating Route 239 on the 23rd May 1998 at Blanchardstown Centre. This photo shows the old terminal arrangements. It has just set down at the 39 stop nearest the Blue Entrance on the south road. It then looped at the roundabout and they layed over outside where the library is. MV66 was delivered to Phibsborough Depot early in 1998, entering service on Route 122. It was withdrawn in 2004, not being one of the MVs transferred to Harristown for the Blanchardstown local services.
The traffic at Blanchardtown Centre would get even worse during 2006. This lead to late running Route 39 services avoiding the centre, especially at weekends, due to the extreme amount of time required to get in and out. The 70 was also semi-officially, before being officially taken out at peak periods in order to save time. The owners of the centre reacted to the problem by creating a new layover point for buses on the west side of the square, near the yellow entrance to the centre. Bus lanes were provided on the entrance into the centre from Blanchardstown Road South and also on the west side of the square, in both directions in both cases. This reduced delays for buses within the centre significantly. Buses moved to the new terminus from November 2006. The 239 also reverted to its former routing via Blanchardstown Road South, as there were bus lanes all the way from Clonsilla Road as opposed to using Snugboro Road extension and the southern road of the centre, neither of which were given bus lanes.
Route 236: As before but now terminating on the West Road of the centre.
Route 236 (FactoryLink):As before but now terminating on the West Road of the centre.
Route 237: As before but now terminating on the West Road of the centre.
Route 238: As before but now terminating on the West Road of the centre.
Route 239: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (West Road), Blanchardstown Road South, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Road, Carpenterstown Road, Diswellstown Road, Porterstown Link Road, Clonsilla Road, R121, right after Westmanstown Golf Club entrance, Westmanstown, left towards Lucan just after Collin's Bridge, L3005, Laraghcon Estate, Lucan Bridge, Lucan Main Street, Adamstown Road, Newcastle Road, Esker Road, Esker Lane, Willsbrook Road, Castle Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Fonthill Road, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Fonthill Road, Lucan Newlands Road, Castle Road, Willsbrook Road, Esker Lane, Esker Road, Newcastle Road, Adamstown Road, Leixlip Road, Lucan Main Street, Lucan Bridge, Laraghcon Estate, L3004, right just prior to Collin's Bridge towards Westmanstown Golf Course, left onto R121, Clonsilla Road, Porterstown Link Road, Diswellstown Road, Coolmine Road, Clonsilla Road, Coolmine Industrial Estate, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (West Road).
Route 270: As before but now terminating on the West Road of the centre.
Alenader R-bodied Volvo Olympian, RV630, is seen operating Route 270 at the Dunboyne Terminus of Route 270 on the 14th October 2012 a few days before its ultimate withdrawal.
Circa 2007 the 238 changed routing with no fanfare what so ever. In fact, it was never even mentioned on the Dublin Bus website. The routing made use of the Castlecurragh Estate on the return from Ladyswell, a great time saving given the traffic tailbacks that plagued the routing from Ladyswell to Blanchardstown Road North via Mulhuddart Village. It also looped into the Ballycoolin Business Park like the 236.
The WV class stayed on until May 2009, however RV-class had become the bus of choice on the Blanchardstown services. On the 9th October 2009, the Ballycoolin Road was closed as part of a significant road upgrade necessitated due to the large industry now present in the area. The diversion put in place was for buses to continue north along Kilshane Way, turning right into Ballycoolin Industrial Estate via a bus gate. It exited Ballycoolin Industrial Estate heading directly south along Snugborough Road. This affected both Route 236 variants and the 238 also. The routings are shown in the map below:
Route 236: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (West Road, then North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Snugboro Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, new bus gate, Blanchardstown Coporate Park, Cruiserath Road, R121 to 2nd roundabout entrance to Tyrellstown, left at this roundabout to Tyrellstown Boulevard, right at next roundabout to terminate outside Paddy Power shop (set-down only), next right back and then left onto Tyrellstown Boulevard (first stop), R121, Cruiserath Road, Blanchardstown Corporate Park, new bus gate, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (North Road, then terminating on West).
Route 236 (FactoryLink) Morning: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (West Road, then North Road (stopping at PC World)), Old Navan Road, Snugboro Road, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, new bus gate, Kishane Way, Blanchardstown Road North, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Centre (West Road).
Route 236 (FactoryLink) Evening: Blanchardstown Centre (West Road), Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Road North, Kishane Way, new bus gate, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (north and then terminating on West Road).
Route 237: As before.
Route 238: Blanchardstown Shopping Centre (West Road), Blanchardstown Road South, Mulhuddart Road, Church Road, Ladyswell Road (to first roundabout and loop back out), Castlecurragh Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Kilshane Way, new bus gate, Ballycullen IDA Business and Technology Park, Snugboro Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Blackcourt Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Centre (West Road).
Route 239: As before.
Route 270: As before.
Harristown's Alexander ALX400-bodied Volvo B7TL, AV180, is seen during its Phibsborough/Broadstone days operating Route 236 at Blanchardstown Centre on the 25th June 2010. AV180 was delivered at the end of 2000 but didn't enter service until well into 2001. It transferred from Broadstone to Harristown in mid-December 2010 and continues to operate from there.
The economic collapse of the Irish State left Dublin Bus with declining passenger numbers and also a declining appetite from government to support its mounting losses. This lead to the concept of Network Direct, where the bus network would be completely overhauled under the guidance of the NTA, with these routes then operated on behalf of the NTA by Dublin Bus in what will become a tendering system like in London. However, it is still to be seen whether this will ever actually happen. The Blanchardstown local services were never great money earners. Readers of this article may recall the first time Dublin Bus put routes up for tender in November 2001 that the Blanchardstown Centre services were on the list, with all the other high loss making services. The list was incredible in many respects as it did not include one core radial service.
Thus when the Network Direct changes for Blanchardstown were introduced it was expected that there would be wholesale reductions in the Blanchardstown Centre routes. The Network Direct changes were brought in on Sunday 30th October 2010. The 236 to Tyrellstown was withdrawn, replaced by a modified Route 238. The FactoryLink 236 was retained, though moved from Phibsboro to Harristown. The 237 was withdrawn, the 238 was ammended to operate from Ladyswell to Tyrellstown via Blanchardstown Centre. The new routing operated via Mulhuddart Village in both directions to compensate for the 38 being routed via Castlecurragh Estate instead. Its extension to Tyrellstown followed a similar alignment to the 236, avoiding Corduff estate. At Tyrellstown, the 238 was routed to serve the Tyrellstown Boulevard loop as per the 40D and to terminate with the 40D at the Park Plaza Hotel. The 239 was kept in its original form, as was the 270, which was given an interlaced timetable with Route 70 to give Dunboyne an every 30min daytime service Monday-Friday. The revised network is shown in the map below:
Route 236 (FactoryLink): As before.
Route 238: Ladyswell Road, Chruch Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Centre (stopping on West and North Roads), Old Navan Road, Snugborough Road, Ballycoolin Road, Cruiserath Road, Tyrellstown Road, Tyrellstown Boulevard, Tyrellstown (Park Plaza Hotel), Tyrellstown Boulevard, Tyrellstown Road, Cruiserath Road, Ballycoolin Road, Snugborough Road, Old Navan Road, Blachardstown Centre (North and West Roads), Blanchardstown Road South, Old Navan Road, Church Road, Ladyswell Road.
Route 239: As before.
Route 270: As before.
Alexander R-bodied Volvo Olympian, RV587, is seen operating Route 237 at its Blanchardstown Centre terminus on the 25th June 2010. RV587 was delivered in September 1999 entering service at Donnybrook Depot. RV587 transferred to Broadstone in late 2001 as part of a reorganisation of Euro buses which saw AV class buses transferring the other way. It transferred to Harristown upon its opening in October 2004. It was one of the last 4 RVs left in Dublin Bus fleet, being withdrawn from Harristown Depot on the 23rd November 2012.
The 238's service via Snugboro Road and Ballycoolin Road was a strange choice given the 17A also served the entire length of Snugboro Road. The residents of Corduff campaigned for the service to be reinstated, though it should be noted that the 220 had continued to link Corduff estate to Blanchardstown Centre. However, it had been considered a route in its final days, though the longer it lasts the more it seems its set to be around for a little while longer. Either way, the most recent change saw the 238 return to serving Corduff from the 21st August 2011. The current routing then became:
Route 236 (FactoryLink): As before.
Route 238: Ladyswell Road, Chruch Road, Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown Road South, Blanchardstown Centre (stopping on West and North Roads), Old Navan Road, Snugborough Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Blackcourt Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Cruiserath Road, Tyrellstown Road, Tyrellstown Boulevard, Tyrellstown (Park Plaza Hotel), Tyrellstown Boulevard, Tyrellstown Road, Cruiserath Road, Blanchardstown Road North, Blackcourt Road, Blackcourt Avenue, Snugborough Road, Old Navan Road, Blachardstown Centre (North and West Roads), Blanchardstown Road South, Old Navan Road, Church Road, Ladyswell Road.
Route 239: As before.
Route 270: As before.
Eurocoach-bodied Mercedes Benz 709D, ME21, is seen at Blanchardstown Centre on the 23rd May 1998 operating Route 238. It was delivered late in 1994. It was pressed quickly into service at Conyngham Road to provide further capacity on Route 123. It would transfer to Clontarf for the launch of Route 130 in the summer of 1995, being withdrawn from there around Christmas 1996. It was reinstated in Phibsborough depot early 1998 lasting until late 2000 before withdrawal from service. It was retained as a NiteLink Ticket Bus, for a few years as a spare still in the CityImp livery before obtaining the NiteLink livery. It lasted in this form till early 2011 having lasted longer than most of the many larger double-deckers which were delivered after it.
The Blanchardstown local services were the last in Harristown to have RVs allocated. Their shorter length and the narrow roads of Route 239 may have been the reason. These excellent buses managed to stay in all day/week service right till the end, whereas the older AVs being withdrawn nowadays are primarily, as coined by a reknowned bus enthusiast, "scares at peaktime". The last day was to be the 23rd November 2012, when the last three RVs were allocated to the Blanchardstown services with RV587 on the 17A, RV574 on the 238 and 270 and RV589 on the 239 (see here for a feature). Though this day did prove to be last were these buses were allocated in Harristown, it wasn't to prove to be the last day. RV574 made a very brief outing on Route 83 on the 26th November 2012, operating one half-lap on the 83 to cover for a breakdown. A heavy storm had hit Dublin the night before, and no doubt the incredible reliability of these workhorses meant that one could be pressed back into service at very short notice. The current allocation to the Blanchardstown locals is shared with Route 17A, being mainly the oldest buses in Harristown's fleet, mainly 00 D AV class buses.
Harristown's RV589 is seen in Westmanstown heading for Blanchardstown Centre turning right just before Collin's Bridge operating Route 239 on its last ever lap on the 23rd November 2012. RV589's history followed that of RV587. Having been initially allocated to Donnybrook in September 1999, it transferred to Broadstone at the end of 2001 as part of an RV/AV swap. It transferred to Harristown in November 2004 and was withdrawn on the 23rd November 2012.
A special thanks must be given to Darren Hall for providing some historical shots of minibuses operating the Blanchardstown local services. Thanks also to Barry Millar for providing the great photo of VG2 on the lesser photographed Route 236. Thanks also to Tim Butler and Barry Millar for their help with routing clarifications.