Route 62:


D721, a Van-Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen parked on Burgh Quay between journeys on Route 62 to Kilmacud on the 11th Spetember 1991. D721 was operated originally from Capwell Depot in Cork, transferring to Bus Eireann in February 1987 with the splitting of CIE into the three companies as per today. A lack of fleet replacement in the mid-80s meant that the vehicle resources of Dublin Bus were limited with new double-deckers not arriving until 1990, 7 years after the then last new double-decker had been delivered. Thus in late spring of 1988 D721 was transferred to Dublin Bus, more specifically Donnybrook Depot where it was quickly put into service. It operated in Donnybrook until the autumn of 1991, when it was withdrawn. It was acquired by the Dublin Fire Brigade Service who used it in their Marino Training Centre up until late 2003 when it was acquired by the Transport Museum Society of Ireland.

Route 62 is a bygone route that operated between the City Centre and Goatstown, later extended into Kilmacud and Stillorgan. Travelling via Ranelagh and Clonskea the 62 paralleled much Route 11, which would eventually come to replace it.

The service to Goatstown was originally introduced by the DUTC as Route 48A in 1928. The routing was as follows:

D’olier Street, Westmoreland Street, College Street, Pearse Street, Westland Row, Merrion Street Lower, Merrion Square West, Merrion Square South, Fitzwilliam Street Lower, Fitzwilliam Street Upper, Fitzwilliam Place, Leeson Street, Dartmouth Road, Ranelagh Road, Sandford Road, Clonskeagh Road, Roebuck Road, Goatstown Road, Goatstown (Cnr. Taney Road).

In 1933 the 48A number was transferred to Ballinteer extensions of Route 48. The Goatstown service was then given the route number 46A. The 46A had previously been used for the service to Cabinteely and then for the service to Dún Laoghaire via Cabinteely and Sallynoggin.

At this point, or around this time, the city terminus became Burgh Quay, the 48s staying on D’olier Street. Also the 46A went the more direct way to Goatstown avoiding Fitzwilliam Street and Dartmount Road though the 48 still served these places. The exact city centre routing at this time is unfortunately not known. It would have served Pearse Street and Westland Row as above. From there it is likely it continued up Merrion Street, to Ely Place and Hume Street. From there to Charlemont Street is unknown. One alternative is that it went via Earlsfort Terrace and Hatch Street as the 47 did in the early 1940’s. The other alternative is that it went around by St Stephen’s Green North/West to Harcourt Street as it would do later in the decade.


AD46, an Alexander Setanta bodied DAF SB220, is seen here operating Route 62 on Hawkins Street on the 7th January 1995, where it operated for 9 years on a number of routes such as the 11s, 14s, 18, 54A and 62. It then transferred to Phibsborough in the late Spring of 2004 as part of batch of ADs (AD44-50), displaced from Donnybrook due to the transferral of WV4-7,14-16 to Donnybrook. AD46 was one of the last ADs to see service with Dublin Bus when they were withdrawn from service on the 122 in late June 2006. It also, along with a few others, made a brief reappearance in September of 2006 to cover for buses being used on Ryder Cup Shuttles (see here).

In 1936 as part of a major renumbering of the bus routes after the acquisition of all the private bus operators within the city, the Goatstown service was renumbered Route 62, which it would keep until its eventual withdrawal. The 46A would then become the service most synonymous with the number to Dún Laoghaire via Mounttown. At this stage the 62’s routing was:

Outbound: Burgh Quay, D’olier Street, Pearse Street, Westland Row, Lincoln Place, Leinster Street South, Kildare Street, St. Stephen’s Green North, St Stephen’s Green West, Harcourt Street, Harcourt Road, Charlemont Street, Ranelagh Road, Sandford Road, Clonskeagh Road, Roebuck Road, Goatstown Road, Goatstown (Cnr. Taney Road).

Inbound: Goatstown, Goatstown Road, Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh Road, Sandford Road, Ranelagh Road, Charlemont Street, Harcourt Road, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green West, St. Stephen’s Green North, St. Stephens’ Green East, Hume Street, Ely Place, Merrion Street Upper, Merrion Square West, Merrion Street Lower, Westland Row, Pearse Street, Tara Street, Burgh Quay.

This routing via Hume Street is interesting as it was a bit of a diversionary way into the city. Hume Street Hospital would seem to be reason for the diversion, but it is interesting that all Harcourt Street services went via Hume Street inbound. This might suggest that they had previously used these streets to access Earlsfort Terrace and Hatch Street as the 47 had done and due to custom received continued to do so but no definitive conclusion can be made at present.

The use of Hume Street continued up until the early 1940’s at least. At some point in the 40s the more direct right turn from Merrion Street Upper to Merrion Row was taken. At this point the inbound routing changed such that Kildare Street, Leinster Street South and Lincoln Place were used on the inbound. Otherwise the route remained basically unchanged until the 1960s.


DF779, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen laying over on Burgh Quay on Route 62 on the 16th September 1993. D779 was new to Donnybrook in January 1976 giving many years of operation there. It was withdrawn in January 1995, exactly 19 years after it had entered service in Dublin its withdrawal coinciding with the delivery further ADs (AD57-63) to Donnybrook.

The only addition was that of a Mass Bus service in November 1952. This service operated from Bird Avenue to Dundrum Church via Route 62. It then disappears from the Dublin District Bus timetable for the months March – September 1953 only to reappear as a service from Roebuck to Dundrum Church. In early 1954 the Mass service was now designated as just Goatstown to Dundrum Church. The Mass services stayed constant until the mid-1960s when they were no longer included in the timetable.

In early 1962 the 62 was extended from its terminus in Goatstown to a new terminus at Kilmacud (Junction South Avenue) , joining the 5, 64 and 64A there. The routing was:

Outbound: Burgh Quay, D’olier Street, Pearse Street, Westland Row, Merrion Street Lower, Merrion Square West, Merrion Street Upper, Merrion Row, St. Stephen’s Green North, St. Stephen’s Green West, Harcourt Street, Harcourt Road, Charlemont Street, Ranelagh Road, Sandford Road, Clonskeagh Road, Roebuck Road, Goatstown Road, Lower Kilmacud Road, Drummartin Road, Lower Kilmacud Road (terminus at Junction of South Avenue)

Inbound: Lower Kilmacud Road, Drummartin Raod, Lower Kilmacud Road, Goatstown Road, Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh Raod, Sandford Road, Ranelagh Road, Charlemont Street, Harcourt Raod, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green West, St. Stephen’s Green North, Kildare Street, Leinster Street South, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse Street, Tara Street, Burgh Quay.

This obviously caused some capacity issues initially as sometime between September and December 1962, certain morning and evening peak hour services were operated from Eden Park only. These services lasted only two years as sometime between September and December 1964 they were removed.


RV437, an Alexander R-bodied Volvo Olympian, is seen on Hawkins Street on the second last day of Route 62's operation, the 6th March 1999. RV437 was new in October 1998 to Donnybrook, where it was assigned along with RV436/8/9 to Route 62 for the few months it had left. RV437 lasted 11 years in Donnybrook, being witdrawn in April 2009 as part of the May cutbacks. RV437 went on for further use across the water, another one of Darren's excellent photos showing it heading for its ferry connection on his new flickr site.

On the 31st March 1964, the small section of Pearse Street between Tara Street and College Street was made one way forcing the 62 to use Townsend Street. The outbound routing was: Burgh Quay, D’olier Street, Townsend Street, Lombard Street East, Westland Row. There was no change on the inbound routing.

On the 25th March 1965 St. Stephen’s Green was made one-way. Buses could now no longer turn from Merrion Street Upper onto Merrion Row. Instead Route 62 returned to Ely Place and Hume Street, using St. Stephen’s Green East and South to serve Harcourt Street. Again the inbound routing was unchanged.

The next change occurred on the 25th May 1966 when Harcourt Street was made one-way northbound with Earlsfort Terrace being the corresponding street southbound. A one-way circus was also formed by the triangle of Camden Street Upper, Charlotte Street and Harcourt Road (section between Camden Street and Charlemont Street) with traffic flowing clockwise. Thus on the southbound routing Route 62 went via Charlemont Street, Harcourt Road, Camden Street Upper, Charlotte Street, Harcourt Road, Harcourt Street. The city centre routing was therefore as follows at this point:

Outbound: Burgh Quay, D’olier Street, Townsend Street, Lombard Street East, Westland Row, Merrion Street Lower, Merrion Square West, Merrion Street Upper, Ely Place, Hume Street, St. Stephen’s Green East, Earlsfort Terrace, Adelaide Road, Harcourt Road, Charlemont Street.

Inbound: Charlemont Street, Harcourt Road, Camden Street Upper, Charlotte Street, Harcourt Road, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green West, St. Stephen’s Green North, Kildare Street, Leinster Street South, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse Street, Tara Street, Burgh Quay.


DF612, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen loading at Route 62's terminus on Hawkin's Street on the 10th July 1991. D612 was part of the initial batch to Clontarf Garage, the first new buses there for some time. It was delivered in early 1975. It would operate there for nearly 12 years transferring to Ringsend in late 1986/early 1987 just before the formation of Dublin Bus. It would then transfer to Donnybrook operating there for a number of years, being re-engined in 1991 (about 6 months before this photo) with the DAF engine from PDR1A/1 DF428, before its eventual withdrawal in the early autumn of 1994.

When the quays had originally gone one-way Burgh Quay had been omitted. This was most likely due to the large amount of buses terminating there. However on Tuesday the 16th August 1966 the one-way system was extended to Burgh Quay with a traffic flow like the rest of the southquays in an eastbound direction. This was opposite to the direction that the buses terminating there had negotiated and with Tara Street having being made one-way northbound prior to this CIE had to make some serious adjustments.

The solution was to swap the terminus of the Burgh Quay routes with those of the Eden Quay routes. The 62 therefore moved to Eden Quay terminating on the river side of the street, using Tara Street with basically the same city routing otherwise. The use however of O’Connell Bridge and Butt Bridge by both Eden and Burgh Quay terminating services proved unworkable and on the 25th September 1966 the Eden Quay and Burgh Quay services swapped again.

This time however the terminus was on the river side of the street as had been the case for the northside routes when they had terminated there. The outbound routing was less than satisfactory avoiding D’olier Street and the lower parts of Townsend Street. The terminus routing was as follows:

Westland Row, Pearse Street, College Street, Westmoreland Street, Burgh Quay, George’s Quay, Moss Street, Townsend Street, Lombard Street East.


AD57, an Alexander Setanta bodied DAF SB220, is seen loading on Hawkin's Street for a Route 62 departure to Kilmacud on the 31st December 1994 having just entered service. Like many of the ADs delivered in 1994, AD57 was delivered in CitySwift livery minus the logos but would not enter service in Donnybrook on a single-deck CitySwift route. Instead these buses were spread around a number of non-cityswift routes within the depot. AD57 transferred to Phibsbourough in 2004 before finally being withdrawn in 2006.

The Stillorgan Shopping Centre opened on the 1st December 1966, the 62 being extended with the 64s to terminate at this time. The terminus was where the current 11 terminus is today at Beaufield Park. The exact routing at this point was as follows:

Outbound: Burgh Quay, George’s Quay, Moss Street, Townsend Street, Lombard Street East, Westland Row, Merrion Street Lower, Merrion Square West, Merrion Street Upper, Ely Place, Hume Street, St. Stephen’s Green East, Earlsfort Terrace, Adelaide Road, Harcourt Road, Charlemont Street, Ranelagh Road, Sandford Road, Clonskeagh Road, Roebuck Road, Goatstown Road, Lower Kilmacud Road, Drummartin Road, Lower Kilmacud Road, Stillorgan S.C.

Inbound: Stillorgan S.C., Lower Kilmacud Road, Drummartin Raod, Lower Kilmacud Road, Goatstown Road, Roebuck Road, Clonskeagh Raod, Sandford Road, Ranelagh Raod, Charlemont Street, Harcourt Road, Camden Street Upper, Charlotte Street, Harcourt Road, Harcourt Street, St. Stephen’s Green West, St. Stephen’s Green North, Kildare Street, Leinster Street South, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse Street, College Street, Westmoreland Street, Burgh Quay.

Due to the awkwardness of the Burgh Quay terminus, the terminus was vacated in the first half of 1969 (sometime between February and June) to the area of Poolbeg Street/Hawkins Street/Townsend Street. The 62 moved to a terminus on Hawkin’s Street, a terminus it would remain in until it was withdrawn. The terminus routing was as follows:

Westland Row, Pearse Street, Tara Street, Poolbeg Street, Hawkins Street, Townsend Street, Lombard Street East, Westland Row.


DF768, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen operating Route 62 on Lombard Street East on the 21st October 1993. D768 was new to Donnybrook in January 1976. It moved to Ringsend in the autumn on 1987 due to maintainance problems within Ringsend depot, a straight swap for some other Ringsend Atlanteans. It then moved to Phibsborough in the summer of 1991 operating there for just over 2 years. This photo was taken a short time after its transfer back to Donnybrook in the autumn of 1993. It was one of the last few Atlanteans to operate into 1995 in Donnybrook garage, being withdrawn in January of that year exactly 19 years after it had entered service. Notable in this photo is the bar across the upstairs windows. The Van Hools were originally delivered without this feature. However D768 was involved in an accident in 1976. While travelling down the Rock Road the bus had to break suddenly, the consequence of which was that the conductor partially went through the front windows. After this the bar across the front windows was added to Van Hool Atlanteans.

Grafton Street was became pedestrianised on the 1st December 1982. From this date Dawson Street traffic was reversed to be northbound and Kildare Street was reversed to be southbound. Hence the inbound routing of the 62 changed to travel via Merrion Street. It became:

St. Stephen’s Green North, Merrion Row, Merrion Street Upper, Merrion Square West, Clare Street, Lincoln Place, Westland Row, Pearse Street, Tara Street, Poolbeg Street, Hawkins Street.

On Monday 14th September 1987 Route 11C was cancelled and was replaced by one morning (southbound) and two evening services (northbound) on Route 62 that operated via Sandyford Industrial Estate. The routing was as follows:

Kilmacud Road Lower, Kilmacud Road Upper, Kilmacud Road Extension, Blackthorn Avenue, Blackthorn Road, Carmanhall Road, Corrig Road, Three Rock Road, Ravens Rock Road, Carmanhall Road, Blackthorn Road, Blackthorn Avenue, Kilmcaud Road Extension, Kilmacud Road Upper, Kilmacud Road Lower.


DF818, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen on a St. Patrick's Day diversion across the Talbot Memorial Bridge operating Route 62 to Kilmacud on the 17th March 1985. New to Donnybrook in the early summer of 1976, it gave 18 years of service in Donnybrook garage before it was withdrawn upon the implementation of the sector 4 changes in the summer of 1994.

On Sunday March 6th 1988 Route 62 became One Person Operated. By the early 90s the number of morning services via Sandyford Industrial Estate had increased to three. The final routing change came on the 2nd November 1992 when Charlotte Street was closed and Charlotte Way was opened. The area around Charlotte Street had been bought up by developers in the 1980s who developed the land into the Camden Court Hotel and office space that exist today. As part of the works a new street was created called Charlotte Way joining Camden Street and Harcourt Street. From this date the 62 used this road to access Harcourt Street as opposed to the hairpin at the Bleeding Horse doubling back to Harcourt Road and Street.

In the mid-90s Dublin Bus’ Managing Director was Bob Montgomery. Under his leadership Dublin Bus went for high-frequency single-deck services to the outer suburbs such as Ballyfermot, Finglas and Blachardstown. These had been quite successful ventures, however when he was replaced there was a change of thought with regard the replacement of double-deck services with high-frequency single-decks. This left a significant order of cityswift livered AD class single-deck buses unassigned. They would operate from Donnybrook garage on non high-frequency cityswift routes such as the 3s, 11s, 14s, 18 and 62.

The 62 would be amalgamated into the 11 with which it shared much of its routing on the 8th March 1999 providing a much higher frequency service to the Goatstown/Kilmacud area. Certain 11 services in the morning and evening were kept via Charelemont Street however within less than a year they were gone.


DF822, a DAF re-engined Van Hool bodied Leyland Atlantean AN68, is seen awaiting its time on Hawkins Street for a Route 62 departure on the 15th October 1991. New to Donnybrook in the late spring of 1976, it had a long association with the Dún Laoghaire area. Originally assigned to Route 45A (Dún Laoghaire - Bray), it was transferred to Route 58 (Mackintosh Park - Shanganagh Cliffs via Dún Laoghaire) in 1982 operating this service until it ceased in 1988. In 1989 it was given a notable AOA for 'Cancer Awareness Year 1989’, a picture of which can be seen in Pat Losty's excellent Wheeling in the Years 1989. This bus was withdrawn in the summer of 1994 corresponding with the major sector 4 changes.

Special thanks for this article must be given to distinguished bus photographers Darren Hall, Kevin Horgan and Patrick Losty for their excellent pictures without which this article would be nothing. Darren Hall, in collaboration with Johnathan McDonnell and Ian Molloy, has published two books celebrating the 20th anniversary of Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann in 2007. Both books are mandatory in any Irish Transport collection. Darren has also recently launched a new flickr site which includes many more of his excellent bus photographs, but also more photos from a general transport perspective such as airplanes, trains and fire engines all up to the same standard as his bus photographs. Well worth a daily look.

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.