Ireland’s National Transport Authority, in conjunction with Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland, has launched the second phase of its new BusConnects network for Dublin. The ‘C-Spine’ commenced on 28 November and connects the communities of Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip, Lucan, Adamstown, Liffey Valley and Palmerstown to the city centre as well as Ringsend and Sandymount.
This second phase in the implementation of the BusConnects network will provide enhanced bus services with high frequency spines as well as new local and radial routes. It follows on from the successful rollout of the ‘H Spine’ in June. The C-Spine will see the introduction of routes C1, C2, C3, C4 which will be the primary drivers of the new network, offering fast and frequent services to the city centre. The C1 and C2 will operate 24 hours a day, while the C3 and C4 routes will become the C5 and C6 for night-time services, operating via a similar pattern to the C3 and C4, but on a slightly amended route.
In addition to the central spines, radial and orbital routes will connect regions outside of the city centre. The services provided in phase two will be primarily serviced by Dublin Bus, with the exception of the L51 and L52 which will be operated by Go-Ahead Ireland.
The remaining phases of the new network will be rolled out on an incremental basis , with services to the south west of the city via the new ‘G-Spine’ due to be launched in June 2022.
Anne Graham, NTA CEO, said: “BusConnects main focus is to improve bus services, but also to connect people to as much of the county and surrounding areas as possible. As part of the network redesign we engaged with tens of thousands of members of the public across the city and across the region. The public have been telling us what they want to see in a new network and we have acted on those contributions.
“Today’s launch is one further step in the delivery of an effective and efficient bus service for the Dublin city region. The network is beginning to take shape and we are confident that today’s launch will be just as successful as the H spine.”
