Back to photostream

Throwback Thursday (225)

It is 1986, the electric railway has arrived in Dublin and KC 88 is seen on Ailesbury Road with a service on route 52. The 52 has had a complicated history in Dublin. Originally it was the number assigned to the DUTC route to Oxmantown in 1928. Over time this became the 72. In 1932 the DUTC introduced the bus route 44A to replace the tram route 4. It operated from the city centre to Sandymount via Bath Avenue, and in 1936 it became the 52. The route was single-decker operated due to it passing under a low railway bridge and it had its terminus on Willfield Road. The route remained thus until the DART feeder services started in 1986, a slight while after the DART started itself in 1984. The 52 was completely rerouted from 2nd February 1986 when it started to run from St. John's Church to Kilmacud Road Upper via UCD at Belfield. Two weeks after it started, the terminus was moved to here at Ailesbury Road on the westside of the railway line. this was to improve performance as the frequent level-crossing closures for trains was impacting the timetable. The route returned to St. John's Church in the 1990s but was finally withdrawn in 1998 when the 2 and 3 were extended to UCD Belfield. A 3A was introduced for a short while to Kilamcud.

KC 88 entered service in 1984 with CIE in Dublin. It was withdrawn by Dublin Bus in 1999.

Ailesbury Road is one of the more exclusive roads in Dublin, where house prices are often valued in the millions, more than KC 88 was worth. 01/05/1986

2,253 views
10 faves
0 comments
Uploaded on April 30, 2020
Taken on May 1, 1986