2022 - Update 2:
My last photo of a Donnybrook VT, VT30, seen operating Route 145 at Heuston Station on the 21st December 2021. This bus last operated in service two days later, doing a morning lap on the 23rd December (click on photo for larger version).
The biggest news this January has been the withdrawal of Donnybrook's VTs. Donnybrook were the first depot to get VTs, putting them into service back in December 2005. 16 years later and Donnybrook said goodbye to its final VT in January 2022. The withdrawal of the VTs occurred with the arrival of Donnybrook's first batch of PAs, PA176-PA215 destined to operate there, with the majority already in service since the first few entered service on the 6th December 2021 allocated to Route 46A.
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Oddly the last VT I photographed on Route 46A was also VT30, seen operating Route 46A on Westmoreland Street on the 29th November 2021. VTs on the 46A were a novelty in recent times, with only the odd one appearing since VT1-20 were withdrawn at the end of 2018 (click on photo for larger version).
VT30-VT35 were the last to be withdrawn, VT30-32 being withdrawn after some morning laps on the 145 on the 23rd December 2021. VT33-VT35 soldiered on into 2022, operating on the 4th-7th January before eventually being withdrawn on the 7th, again after a morning lap or so on the 145. This leaves just 10 VTs left in service in Phibsboro, VT36-44 and VT65. The majority of these are painted into the new NTA livery, which means they should see service for a good while longer, but it is sad to see tri-axles leaving the city streets. A successful innovation back in the mid-2000s, its a pity that more modern tri-axles have not found their way onto Dublin's streets.
From the batch of buses that ousted the final Donnybrook VTs, PA197 is seen operating Route 46A on Infirmary Road on the 21st December 2021 (click on photo for larger version).