Photo of the Week - Week 7:


Ringsend's EV7 is seen operating the new Route 65B on Killinniny Road on the 12th February 2012.

There's nothing unusual about EVs on the 65B. It seems like an age ago when I put up my first photo of one in September 2010. Nowadays, especially on a Sunday, EVs are the norm with a few AXs thrown in for good measure. EV7 especially seems to be a regular judging from this feature. The 65B changes were originally to occur with the 15 changes in December 2011, however were delayed. A notable outcome of this was the removal of a gap in service between 1730 and 1930 on the 65, with the addition of an 1830 to Ballymore, which can only be deemed a positive.

The new routing sees the 65B avoid Tallaght Square and Village, to the consternation of a number of passengers today. I find it difficult to understand the reasoning behind this. The routing is as follows:

Hawkins Street, College Green, Aungier Street, Rathmines, Rathgar, Terenure, Templeogue Road, Templeogue Village, Tallaght Road (or as per the current 65B to Spawell Roundabout), Spawell Link Road (which seems to be Charleville Road in terms of the stage list), Firhouse Road, Ballycullen Road, Kilinniny Road, Old Bawn Road, Firhouse Road West, Whitestown Way, Killinarden Heights, Blessington Road, CityWest.


Ringsend's EV7 is seen on the old 65B routing on the Old Blessington Road in Tallaght Village on the 3rd September 2011.

The running time for the route is 90mins, which seems overkill. Today, observations was about 45mins in the morning. Therefore 60mins would seem satisfactory in terms of running time, or basically whatever the 49 gets. Dublinbus have integrated the City Centre departures of the 49 and 65B, which given they share a lot of routing is positive. However, the issue is when they depart their Tallaght termini. There is no doubt that CityWest is further in distance, but departing at the same time means that they catch up on each other. The reality is that by the time the 49 gets around its circular routing at the Square, and then does heads back upon itself in Ballycullen and deals with the ramps, the 65B is gaining on it minute by minute. On the particular departure I took, we met the 49 in front in Templeogue Village. Otherwise the 65B could be kept at 90mins running time via Tallaght Village and Square, increasing the distance between this and the 49 in front and also serving a popular destination.

The 65B finally brings back a service to the 15F section of Killinniny Road at Parklands. However it should be noted that there is only a very short walk between the 65B stops on Killinniny Road and those of the 49 on Ballycullen Drive, less than 1min across a green area. The major proportion of the population live around the circular Parkland Road area, the north side of Killinniny Road not being populated. I feel a much better service could be provided if the routing was changed to include Parklands Road. There is most definately enough running time. Also of note is that the Spawell Link Road formerly served by the 15D is once again served by a Dublin Bus. However, without any form of development or amenity, there are no stops on this section of road.


Ringsend's EV7, once again on the 65B, is seen on the first morning of its service to Hawkins Street on the 8th January 2012, necessitated by the closure of the Eden Quay contra flow bus lane due to the building of a new bridge over the Liffey.

N.B. This website is not affiliated with Dublin Bus. The information contained herein is intended for enthusiast reference. For all current timetable and route information please refer to the official Dublin Bus Website.