The End of the 42A and 42B:
Clontarf's Enviro 400 bodied Volvo B9TL operating Route 42A on Amiens Street, is seen closely followed by AV34 on Route 42B on the 2nd January 2011.
This feature looks back at the final days of Routes 42A and 42B which ceased operation on the 10th September 2011, with some brief attention to the 27 changes effected on the same date. Route 104 which also changed at this time will be dealt with in an updated feature which will appear on the site in the next few weeks, while the 50/56/56A/77/77A changes will be dealt with in another feature.
As and from the 11th September 2011 Route 27 was extended down the Millbrook Road into Edenmore, while a new Route 27A takes over from Route 42B on the exact same routing, except for a minor city centre terminus change from Lower Abbey Street to Eden Quay.
Clontarf's AV344 is seen on Edenmore Grove operating a Route 42A service to Beaumont Hospital on the 3rd September 2011.
The first guise of Route 42A came as far back as the summer of 1926, just one year on from the DUTC's first venture into bus transport. It was as an extension of Route 42 to Kinsealy, Route 42 then only running as far as Coolock. Within 6 months the 42A was operating to Malahide. In 1953 the designations swapped, with Route 42 being the Malahide service, as is the case today, the number 42A being used for shorts to Coolock.
In 1954 the 42A to Artane began. Buses operated up the Malahide Road to where the Malahide Roundabout stands today. There it took a right onto St. Brigid's Road, left onto Brookwood Road, left again onto Brookwood Drive and right onto Brookwood Avenue to terminate at junction of Brookwood Park where a reversing manoeuvre was performed.
Clontarf's AV96 is seen in blizzard conditions on the Malahide Road operating Route 42B on the 22nd December 2011.
The 42B began in 1958 as a new service into Harmonstown serving Gracefield Road and McAuley Park. By the early 60s the 42A was extended to Brookwood Rise (corner Rosemount Avenue), the 42B to Harmonstown Road (corner Lein Gardens). The routing was Malahide Road to roundabout, right St. Brigid's Road, left St Brendan's Avenue, right Gracefield Road (Gracefield Road was yet to gain a connection to Artane Roundabout), McAuley Avenue, Gracefield Avenue, McAuley Park, Ribh Road Harmonstown Road. In the mid-60s the 42A was extended up to the 42B terminus at the corner of Lein Gardens, the 42B then terminating by performing a counterclockwise loop of the green on Ribh Road, something which the 27A does to this day. The routing of the 42B then saw buses operating from Gracefield Road onto McAuley Road, doing nearly a full circle of McAuley Park by turning right from McAuley Road onto McAuley Avenue and then left onto Gracefield Avenue, left McAuley Park and then right Ribh Road, terminating at the green area.
Clontarf's AV344 is seen operating a Route 42B turning right off Ribh Road onto McAuley Drive to operate counter-clockwise around the green there on the 3rd September 2011.
In the early 70s the 42A was extended to possibly its longest serving terminus at the corner of Springdale Road and Edenmore Crescent. This junction is very wide, and was used in more recent memory by a Sunday only Route 104 service that ran in the mid-90s. Route 42A assumed Route 42B's routing through Harmonstown in the early 1980s, the lower Harmonstown area routing down Brookwood Rise and Brookwood Avenue had been much of a duplication with the mid-60s introduction of Route 28 to Edenmore. Route 42A operated as follows from Artane Roundabout:
St. Brigid's Road, Brookwood Road, Brookwood Drive, Brookwood Avenue, Gracefield Road, McAuley Road, Mc Auley/Park Drive (serving counterclockwise as per current arrangment), Ribh Road, Harmonstown Road, Springdale Road (terminus at corner of Edenmore Crescent).
The 42B was introduced as a new route terminating at Blunden Drive. The route operated up the Malahide Road as far as the Tonlegee Road, whence it turned right and operated to Millbrook Road terminating at Blunden Drive.
Clontarf's EV20 is seen at the terminus of Route 42B on Blunden Drive on Route 42B's last day of operation, the 10th September 2011.
In early 1988, as part of a network wide cost cutting reorganisation, Routes 42A and 42B were merged. The routing was basically as per the present 27A without the Edenmore meanders. The buses left Malahide Road at Artane Roundabout and operated through Harmonstown as per current arangement, left Harmonstown Road, left Springdale Road, serving Tonlegee Road, Millbrook Road and terminating at Blunden Drive. Though it is noted that the 42B did not serve the Edenmore meanders it did serve Glenfarne Road jointly with Route 28, though only on its outbound. Buses heading to Blunden Drive turned right from Springdale Road onto Glenwood Road, left Glenfarne Road before turning right onto Tonlegee Road. On the inbound buses turned left from Tonlegee Road directly onto Springdale Road.
Clontarf's AV107 is seen on Glenfarne Road, a road it served 8 years before its merger with Route 28, on Route 42B on the 3rd September 2011.
In July 1996, a few months after the 27 amalgamation of Routes 27, 27A and 42C, Routes 28 and 42B were merged into Routes 42A and 42B. Route 42B obtained the routing it had prior to its withdrawal on the 10th September last. Route 42A on the other hand was basically Route 28 (serving the Howth Road until Brookwood Avenue) extended to Blunden Drive. The frequency of the new routes saw a quite significant increase to the area. However in 1999, Route 20A, and those 20B departures via 20A, finally bit the dust and Route 42A then served the Malahide Road up to Donnycarney Church, turning right there to serve Collins Avenue East, before rejoining the Howth Road and its former routing to Blunden Drive.
Clontarf's AV233 is seen operating a Route 42A service on the Millbrook Road on the 10th September 2011.
Lest then a year later, when the 101 was withdrawn, selected daytime departures of Route 42A were extended to Beaumont Hospital. In 2005 all Route 42A services, Monday-Sunday were extended to Beaumont Hospital. However the Beaumont Hospital extension never proved successful, the routing being very long winded. The former 101 section to Beaumont Hospital was at best a social local service, but was appended onto a longer city route that made its arrival less predictable. Scheduling problems also existed, Route 42A did not service Harmonstown and hence Route 42B services were generally spaced evenly, leaving the 42A to run very close to Route 42B times, often only 5mins difference. An example of this can be seen in the first image in this feature. This picture was taken on a Sunday, with lower frequency services, yet still the scheduling issues leads to a 42A and 42B heading into city together, the 42B behind being noticeably empty.
Clontarf's AV240 operating the last ever Route 42A service from Beaumont Hospital on the 10th September 2011.
Other issues with the timetabling saw often very tight schedules (70mins round trip) on Route 42B. Thankfully with the new 27A a semblance of reliability can return to these services. With a 90min round trip the 27A is currently a very reliable route, and its loadings from this author's experience have improved. I believe that this is a vast area that with a reliable bus route can prove to expand in passenger numbers.
Clontarf's AV230 is seen on Brookwood Rise approaching the traffic lights with Brookwood Avenue on the 3rd September 2011. This road has lost a city services after more than 50 years of service, however it is a short walk to either the Howth Road or 42B services.
The loss of Route 42B after 53 years of operation sees the reintroduction of Route 27A after 15years in the wilderness. However, the reasoning behind the renumbering of the 42B to Route 27A was lost in the implementation, with the two routes not interworked. Hence, though renumbering the route may have made sense to distinguish it from Route 42, would the number 28 not have been a better choice to distinguish it from the 27??
Clontarf's AV230 is seen turning left off Glenwood Road onto Springdale Road on the last day of Route 42B's operation, the 10th September 2011.
The Former 27:
Clontarf's AV243 is seen at the former Clare Hall terminus of Route 27 on its last day of operation there, the 10th September 2011.
On the 11th September 2011, Route 27 was merged with Route 77 and extended to Jobstown. However more subtle changes to the route were that it no longer served its former Clare Hall terminus. The 27 had been extended to this terminus 15 years previously, when Routes 27, 27A and 42C were merged into a new Cityswift route 27. However at this point the main road where it terminated lead only to the estate. Now its part of the well used N32 (an extension itself to the M50) which made the terminus unsuitable. Also with the 128 also serving this road, the 27s usage in Clare Hall dwindeled.
Clontarf's AV242 is seen turning off Gardiner Street onto Beresford Place on Route 27 on the 16th July 2011.
The other notable change is the loss of the Talbot Street terminus. This had been in use for 37 years, but with the extension of Route 27 it is now defunct. The 27 began terminating there upon the introduction of the Cityswift service in 1996. In fact for the first few months, until the new 42A/B timetable was introduced, the 27 shared the terminus with Route 42B. A high frequency 8min frequency service with technically only 2 parking spaces in the city. It was crazy there for a time.
Dusk falls, both for Dublin and for this terminus, as AV62 awaits departure on a Route 27 service from Talbot Street to Clare Hall, on the last day of serving either location on the 10th September 2011.