Photo of the Week - Week 34 & 35:
Phibsboro's Alexander R-body Volvo Olympian, RA246, is seen on Sir John Rogerson's Quay operating the then brand new Docklands Tour on the 13th July 2013.
Due to hectic schedules the site has not been updated in a few weeks. For this reason I upload a joint feature, on what I had previously designated as two features. This summer saw the begining of a brand new Sightseeing Tour operating around the Docklands area. It is operated by RA-class sightseeing buses distinguished by a pink notice in the window saying "Docklands Tour". The "Original Tour" buses carry a similar purple display in their windows to distinguish them. Running every 30mins, the Docklands Tour takes over from the Hotel Shuttle service which served the north and south Docklands hotels. The Docklands Tour routing is shown in the map below in pink, along with the former Hotel Shuttle service. The RH and RA-class tour buses are on borrowed time. With AV63-68, AV93 and AV96 becoming Tour buses (both Ghost and Open Top Examples) over the coming months, the Olympian should finally bow out from the Dublin Bus fleet.
Phibsboro's RH130 is seen crossing the Samuel Beckett Bridge on the Hotel Shuttle Tour with the Convention centre in the background on the 18th December 2011.
Map of the new Dockland's Tour Routing and the Hotel Shuttle Routing.
The Hotel Shuttle service was introduced for the summer 2011 season, operating to the Croke Park Museum and Docklands Hotels. The routing is shown in the map above in green. The original routing saw the bus operate down the North Wall Quay to the Point Depot, stopping at the Gibson Hotel, covering both the light and dark green routing. However, in April 2012 the routing was changed to operate down the North Wall Quay to the Samuel Beckett Bridge turning right directly onto the bridge instead of dowing the loop around the Point Depot. The Hotel Shuttle service was suspended in October 2013 for the winter season. With the new Docklands Tour, one would wonder if it will return for the summer season. Lets hope it does at least in its Croke Park Shuttle form, as I never did get a shot of it looping at the stadium which is something I had meant to do.
Phibsboro's RA260 is seen operating the Docklands Tour on the 22nd September 2013 on Custom House Quay on the 22nd September 2013.
Phibsboro's RA250 is seen heading over Binn's Bridge Drumcondra on the Hotel Shuttle service on the 2nd May 2011.