Route 240:
EV70 operating the first departure of Route 240, seen loading at the Toburburr terminus at 10am on the 10th May 2009.
Route 240 was a short-lived route from Cappagh Hospital to Toberburr. Born out of a major set of network cutbacks, that saw reductions in all 40 services, the 240 replaced route 40B being introduced on the 10th May 2009 (see timetable).
This timetable is reproduced based on the original timetable with some additions such as the route information instead of Irish intermediary points. Therefore the two row table for services from Toberburr and the three row table for those operating from Cappagh Hospital was how it appeared in the printed timetable.
City cound services in the morning displayed 'Route 240' and operated straight via Finglas Road into the city. However the evening departures listed in the timtable operated as Route 40a via Route 40a to Toberburr.
It had previously been scheduled to operate on the 12th April 2009 (see original timetable), operating from Deanstown (Patrician College) to Toburburr. However due to trade union proceedings at the Labour Court the changes were postponed to the 10th May 2009.
EV70 seen operating Route 240 on St. Margaret's Road on the 10th May 2009.
It should be noted that prior to the introduction of Route 240 a protest was staged at the removal of Route 40B. Finglas had been covered in the Deloitte Report and it became apparent that a shake up of services would be performed when the service cuts were to be brought. News filtered that Route 40B would be one of the routes to go and a protest was staged in the Rivermeade estate (Toberburr). Protesters prevented a 40B bus from leaving the estate on the 5th March 2009.
As for service levels, Toberburr saw its daily service to the city cut from 12 return M-F, to just 2 inbound and outpbound in the peak periods. No Saturday or Sunday services operated directly to the city. However, the estate itself got a more regular service, albeit to Finglas Village only. 13 services augmented the 2 city bound journeys to give 15 M-F departures from Toberburr.
However the loadings were never going to be enough on the Toburburr to Finglas section, population levels being quite sparse to justify a double decker running back and forth hourly. At least with the 40B the bus was liable to fill up with passengers on the Finglas Road with city bound passengers.
As can be seen from the pictures above, the route had been changed quite close to its start date to terminate at Cappagh Hospital. Therefore the LED displays had not been updated on the first day, displaying 'Deanstown'.
In fact there was always some confusion about the route. In April Dublinbus headquaters had quoted the route as follows:
Deanstown (Patrician College Terminus), Deanstown Avenue, Ratoath Road, Tolka Valley Road, Cardiffsbridge Road, Wellmount Road, Finglas Road, Finglas Place, Main Street, Church Street, Jamestown Road, St. Margaret's Road, R122, St. Margaret's Village, Toberburr.
New stops were placed on Ratoath Road and Tolka Valley Road for the new service. However prior to its introduction the route was extended to Cappagh Hospital. There is again some confusion with regards the routing. The routing which I've observed, videotaped, photographed and acquired a map of is the following: (gif map of route - photograph of routing information at Charlestown Shopping Centre)
Cappagh Hospital, Cappagh Road, Ratoath Road, Tolka Valley Road, Cardiffsbridge Road, Wellmount Road, Dunsink Avenue, Wellmount Road, Finglas Place, Main Street, Church Street, McKee Avenue, St. Margaret's Road, R122, St. Margaret's Village, Toberburr.
EV70 photographed turning from Cardiffsbridge Road to Tolka Valley Road on the 10th May 2009.
However the routing debacle doesn't end there. It seems there was some slight confusion with regards DB Head Office and Harristown over the routing. Dublinbus Customer Service team were still of the opinion that the route served Jamestown Road, and to this extent bus stops on the road were updated to show Route 240.
It has also been noted from reliable sources that the route also operated via Deanstown Avenue. This saved some time on the route, however I don't think this was official though its hard to know exactly what was official.
Depicting the true rural nature of this route, EV70 is seen emerging from St. Margaret's Village on Route 240 to Cappagh Hospital on 10th May 2009.
Route 240 ceased operation on Saturday 5th September 2009. EV70 also perfomed the last duty on the route. Wonder if any other route has been operated by the same bus on its first and last ever duties.
As a replacement certain Route 40 services are extended to Toberburr, however they travel via Route 40 within the Finglas area thus extending the trip to Toberburr. There are now only 6 departures Monday-Friday from Toberburr and none after 8.05pm, though there is a 11pm service from the city.
EV70 pictured at Cappagh Hospital on the 10th May 2009.
A video of the whole route as performed by EV70 on the first journey from Toburburr to Cappagh will be uploaded in the next day or so. Some youtube clips will also appear on this webpage showing the routing from St. Margaret's Village to Toburburr and Finglas Village to Cappagh Hospital. Stay tuned....