Photo of the Week - Week 27:
Ringsend's AV248 is seen in its new back and sides AOA for Saorview, seen at the Shanard Road terminus of ROute 1 on the 23rd June 2012.
AV248 appeared last week with a new partial AOA for Saorview. Donnybrook has for the last year been the only garage to obtain these buses, with its AV397 being the only full AOA in some time. AV248 is interesting in that it recently operated the last ever Route 3 from Larkhill to Sandymount. Replaced by new Route 1, from Santry instead of Larkhill, AV248 is primarily allocated to this new service, as it was towards the end of the 2 and 3 services. Hopefully it will move around a bit, giving more opportunity for photos on Ringsend's other services.
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A rear shot of the new Saroview wrap on AV248 at the Shanard Road terminus of Route 1 on the 23rd June 2012.
Saorview, for those living under a rock for the past year or so, is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. Its function is to replace the analogue television transmission, which in Ireland will be switched off on October 24th 2012. Analogue switch off will be Europe-wide, freeing up valuable spectrum for use on other services (most likely higher speed mobile phone transmission). Digital television is much more efficient with the amount of spectrum it requires and thus there is an overall saving. Spectrum is a valuable commodity, recently 3G licenses were selling in the billions in the UK, though modern downturns mean that prices will probably not be so high. The bus advertises that Saorview will offer "No more subscriptions". As someone who invested in a piece of wire to plug into the back of my television, I have not needed a subscription to obtain Irish terrestrial television. If you really want free televisions, invest in a satellite and get FreeSat. Maybe, its just because I'm Irish, but when a bus offers me the promise of something for nothing, it smells quite fishy.
AV248 is seen turning off Shanliss Road onto Shanowen Road on Route 1 on the 23rd June 2012.