Throwback Thursday (323)
This week we are going back ten years to VT 8 on route 46A. St. Patrick's Day is a good day to see buses on diversion, as the parade through the centre of Dublin closes off main arteries for bus services. With O'Connell Street closed for the parade, a lot of the bus routes (such as the 46A) are diverted onto Gardiner Street on their journey across the city. The 46A started running between the city centre and Dun Laoghaire in 1936. In 2010 it was extended to the Phoenix Park, replacing route 10 under Network Direct changes. It is still running between the Phoenix Park and Dun Laoghaire today.
On the other hand, the same cannot be said of VT 8. This Enviro 500 was one of twenty delivered to Dublin Bus in 2005. A further 50 were delivered in 2007. The first twenty were all withdrawn in 2018, and inroads have been made into the final 50 in recent years (although there are still a handful in service). VT 8 was sold on to Ensignbus in the UK initially, before ending up with Travelmasters of Sheerness.
The ad on the side of the bus is for AIB mobile banking. At the time this was a relatively new concept (doing banking through a phone app), unlike now where it is almost the default practice.
17/03/2012
Throwback Thursday (323)
This week we are going back ten years to VT 8 on route 46A. St. Patrick's Day is a good day to see buses on diversion, as the parade through the centre of Dublin closes off main arteries for bus services. With O'Connell Street closed for the parade, a lot of the bus routes (such as the 46A) are diverted onto Gardiner Street on their journey across the city. The 46A started running between the city centre and Dun Laoghaire in 1936. In 2010 it was extended to the Phoenix Park, replacing route 10 under Network Direct changes. It is still running between the Phoenix Park and Dun Laoghaire today.
On the other hand, the same cannot be said of VT 8. This Enviro 500 was one of twenty delivered to Dublin Bus in 2005. A further 50 were delivered in 2007. The first twenty were all withdrawn in 2018, and inroads have been made into the final 50 in recent years (although there are still a handful in service). VT 8 was sold on to Ensignbus in the UK initially, before ending up with Travelmasters of Sheerness.
The ad on the side of the bus is for AIB mobile banking. At the time this was a relatively new concept (doing banking through a phone app), unlike now where it is almost the default practice.
17/03/2012