Tallaght Changes - Routes 50, 56, 77, 77A:


Ringsend's AV1 is seen operating Route 50 on the last day of the routes existence on Killinarden Heights on the 10th September 2011.

The 10th September 2011 saw the cessation of Routes 50, 56 and 77, with changes also effected to Route 77A on the 11th September 2011. This feature looks back on the last weeks of these routes with a brief historical account given on each route. This week is Part 1 of this feature, looking at Routes 50 and 56. Next week Part 2 will be added which will look back at Routes 77 and 77A.

Route 50:

Route 50 was one of the first DUTC bus routes introduced in 1925, the first year of that company's bus operations. The route operated from the city to Crumlin Cross Roads, operating out through the Coombe, Cork Street, Dolphins Barn, Crumlin Road, St. Mary's Road, St. Agnes Road. In 1926 is was extended eastwards to Terenure, but reverted back to its previous form in 1928. It was extended to Whitehall Cross in 1962, remaining there until the Sector 4 Tallaght Changes of 1994. The terminus was on Millgate Drive, buses operating via Whitehall Road West, Wellington Road, Greentrees Road, Millgate Drive to terminate, and then back onto Whitehall Road West. The 150 to this day still serves these roads in this form.


Ringsend's AV249 is seen in Tallaght village on Belgard Square North operating Routes 50 to CityWest on the 3rd September 2011.

It is often forgotten that the 50 was the first DUTC route to Tallaght, well specifically the 50A. In the mid-30s the service to Tallaght via the Greenhills Road was acquired from a private operator and numbered Route 50A. This would then be renumbered and became Route 77. The 50A was brought back in 1939 operating a short Route 50 to Drimnagh, serving Errigal Road and terminating at the roundabout junction of Mourne Road and Cooley Road. It was then extended further up Mourne Road to terminate at the corner of Mangerton Road. Route 50B was started by the DUTC in 1940 operating to The Halfway House, being extended in 1947 to Walkinstown Roundabout.


Ringsend's distinctive AV319 is seen at SuperQuinn on the Walkinstown Road opeating Route 50 on the last day of that Route's operation, the 10th September 2011.

Route 50C began in the early autumn of 1977, a 50 service returning to the Greenhills Road for the first time in just over 40 years. A 50 derivative in one form or another would remain on the Greenhills Road until the 10th September 2011. The 50C operated as per the 50B to Walkinstown Cross before continuing onto Mayberry Road. It would be extended up Mayberry Road in very late 1981 and on up Treepark Road terminating at the roundabout close to where the Ballymount Luas station is today. It was at this time that the 50A was extended to Jobstown via Kilnamanagh Road, Tallaght Village onto Blessington Road. The bus turned right directly off the Blessington Road onto Fortunestown Road terminating at the 2nd roundabout. The 50B was withdrawn in the summer of 1985.


Ringsend's AV4 is seen rising up onto Lord Edward Street on Route 50 back on the 20th March 2011.

The Sector 4 changes of 1994 saw a complete rethink of Tallaght services. Route 50A and 50C were withdrawn. Route 50 became Route 150, extended from Millgate Drive to Rossmore. A new Route 50 was introduced operating much on the lines of the previous Route 50A, but this time Jobstown was served by Route 77. Instead the new 50 served the Greenhills Road, Mayberry Road, Belgard Road, Tallaght Village, Old Bawn Road, Firhouse Road terminating on Ballycullen Avenue at the church. This version of Route 50 was short lived, as the route was then extended beyond Tallahgt Village serving the Killinarden Loop sharing the 65B's terminus across from Knockmore Gardens.


Ringsend's AV17 is seen on the Greenhills Road operating ROute 50 to Citywest on the 3rd September 2011.

There were two further extensions to Route 50 before its withdrawal, the first coming in the late 90s as it and the 65B were extended beyond their Killindarden terminus to a new terminus in Citywest. The final change came with the extension of Route 50 to Ringsend Garage in early 2006, the former terminus space there been allocated to the 15 group. With the withdrawal of Route 50, Mayberry road is now without a service, the road having a service for over 30 years. The 77A takes over in Killinarden and CityWest, which for the time being is also the routing of the 65B.

Route 56:


Ringsend's AV3 is seen climbing Sylvan Drive operating Route 56 on the 3rd September 2011.

The 56s history is slightly less interesting. It began operation in 1956 operating from the City - Walkinstown Roundabout via The Long Mile Road and Walkinstown Avenue. It should be noted that for much of its existence it was jointly operated with the 50 group of services. It was joined by the 56A in late 1981 which operated up the Ballymount Road terminating at Sylvan Drive. It should be noted that at this time there was no M50. Therefore the Ballymount Road Lower and Ballymount Road where connected. Thus at the roundabout junction of Ballymount Road Lower and Ballymount Road Upper, where the current 56A turns left, the 56 would continue instead straight ahead onto the Ballymount Road, using the triangle created by the Ballymount Road, Syvlan Avenue and Syvlan Drive to turn about.


Ringsend's AV1 is seen turning right off the Belgard Road onto the Cookstown Road on the 3rd September 2011.

In the summer of 1985 the 56A was extended to Fettercairn via the Cookstown Road and Route 56 was withdrawn. The number was used for a peak hour service to Fox & Geese in the late 80s/early 90s. The 56A would be further extended to the Square upon its opening in the early 90s. With the introduction of the LUAS in the Ballymount area, Route 56A saw a significant reduction in usage during the May 2009 cutbacks. In order to maximise driver utilisation, it was decided to reintroduce Route 56 operating from the Square via Route 56 to Dolphin's Barn only. This increased the frequency of buses on the unique section of the 56A.


Ringsend's AX491 at the 56 terminus of Dolphin's Barn on the 10th January 2010.

It was announced with the Network Direct proposals that Route 56 would stay, in a shortened form operating from The Square Tallaght to Drimnagh only, with Route 56A to be withdrawn. However on the 10th May the exact opposite happened, with Route withdrawn for a higher frequency 56A. No doubt the light running between the garage and Drimnagh was the reasoning for not operating the service this way.


AX482 is seen having operated a Route 56 service to the Square on the 3rd September 2011.

Route 77:

Route 77, as noted before initially numbered Route 50A for a short period, began in the mid-1930s, having being acquired by the DUTC from the Dublin Bus Company. The terminus was on Main Street in Tallaght, terminating at the junction with The Old Bawn Road. Tallaght was only a little rural village at this stage. By the mid-60s there was still only 19 services a day on Route 77, the 50s had yet to be extended. About the same number of buses was provided by the 49 which terminated at the same location. And the fairly infrequent 65 was the only other route to pass. Belgard Road was served by the mid-50s, with buses running about 1/2 mile from the previous terminus to Colbert's Fort.


Ringsend's, now withdrawn, RV470 is seen operating Route 77 on the Old Blessington Road in Tallaght Village on the 23rd July 2011. The old 77 terminus can barely be seen in the rear of the photo. To the left of the traffic lights, a white wall can be seen which encloses a green which sits in front of the cottages behind. The buses used to circle this green to turn about and head back into the city.

Very little changed for the 77. Tallaght would expand greatly around it but up until the 1990s it remained relatively unchanged. The 77A would join the 77 in the early-to-mid 1970s. At this stage Tymon North was unbuilt, the 77A continuing along the Greenhills Road, to Tallaght Main Street, turning left onto Old Bawn Road before serving Seskin View Road. The early terminus was at the corner of Bawnville Road, being extended onwards along Avonmore Road to junction with Tallaght By-Pass.


Ringsend's, former Wedding Bus, AV383 is seen on Route 77 passing Tallaght IT on the Old Blessington Road on the 3rd September 2011.

Route 77B joined in the late 70s operating to Springfield. This continued past along the Blessington Road after the junction will Belgard Road and is shown on OS Maps as terminating at the corner of the Cheeverstown Road and N81. Tallaght was very different then, with the Blessington Road being a fully connected road straight between where Tallaght IT now is to Alderwood Estate. The building of The Square, and subsequent road reorganisation would not begin until the late 1980s. By the mid 1980s the 77B had been extended to Fettercairn, a terminus it would share with the 56A which was extended shortly after. The Cheeverstown Road was a lot narrower than it is today. The buses turned at a turning circle on the Cheeverstown Road just before the junction with the Fettercairn Road, something which the 56A continued to loop to serve till modern times.


Ringsend's RV605 is seen on the Cheeverstown Road, at a new shelter where the turning circle used to be, on the last day of Route 77 on the 10th September 2011. The bus paparazzi seem to be causing a stir among the upper deck.

In the late 1980s the 77B was extended further to Brookfield Estate, terminating on Brookfield Road. The 77A way of serving Seskin View would be reversed, buses then terminating at a terminus on the Old Bawn Road. However buses still did not serve Tymon North. This was instead served by the 54, which had termini at Kilnamanagh, Castle Lawns and The Square Tallaght when it opened. Thus at one stage, the 54 and 77A operated on different sides of the Tallaght Road (near where Lidl is today) when heading to/from the city. The 77 almost didn't change throughout this entire period, the only minor change saw the terminus extended beyond Colbert's Fort to where the 49A terminated until recently on the Old Belgard Road. This was possibly due to the widening of the Belgard Road during the early-to-mid 1980s.


Ringsend's RV606 is seen on the Jobstown Road on the last day of Route 77, the 10th September 2011.

The Sector 4 changes of the Summer of 1994 saw wide scale route reorganisation, especially in the Tallaght area. It was at this point that Route 77 was reorganised into its modern form. The 77 became an amalgamation of Route 77B and Route 50A, operating at a daytime frequency of every 10mins. The route operated as per the 77B to Brookfield, via Greenhills Road, Tallaght Village, The Square, Cheeverstown Road, Brookfield Road, before continuing along Fortunestown Way to the Jobstown Road. Serving Jobstown Road it turned left onto Fortunestown Road before continuing back onto the N81, turning left before taking a quick right onto Killinarden Way terminating at the old 65B terminus opposite Knockmore Gardens where there was a turning circle (which still exists). This must have been a fairly busy place as within a short time there were joined by Route 50 as well.


Ringsend's AX491 is seen operating Route 77 at its Jobstown terminus on the Fortunestown Road on the last day of Route 77's existence, the 10th September 2011.

Upon being made into a CitySwift Route in 1997, the 77 was shortened to the present 27 terminus on the Fortunestown Road in Jobstown. The last change made to the route came in early 2006 with the extension of Route 77 to Ringsend Garage (along with Routes 50, 56A and 77A). The 77B did make a comeback as part of the peak hour Euro services that were popular in the late 90s/early 00s. It ran from Jobstown to DCU, and for a lot of its existence ran only in one direction before bowing out in the late 00s.


Another photo of AV1, this time operating Route 77 turning out of its depot terminus onto the Ringsend Road on the 5th July 2011. There's always something special about the first of any batch, and I've always found it very photogenic for some reason, hence why it has appeared three times in this feature!


Google Maps Video of the Old 77 route from Ringsend Road to Jobstown. The video is not of great quality, the discontinuities of clicking through Google Maps but if you find yourself like me clicking through routes to see what places look like, then this makes the process much simpler. I can possibly see myself doing this for every route, the process of actually videoing every route being way to laborious. Another one for route 50 can be found here.

Route 77A:

On the 11th September 2011, the 77A was extended beyond its pervious terminus at The Square along the former 50 route to CityWest. The only notable difference to its previous routing is that it no longer goes into The Square bus terminal area instead serving it only from the road outside. The 77A was a late arrival to The Square. Upon its opening in 1990, Routes 49, 54, 56A, 75 and 76 were extended there. However the 77A instead terminated on the Old Bawn Road. With the Sector 4 changes and the cancellation of Route 54, the 77A was rerouted via Tymon North, before serving Seskin View and Tallaght Village to terminate in The Square.


Ringsend's RV535 is seen at The Square terminus of Route 77A on the 22nd April 2011 prior to its extension to CityWest.

N.B. This website is not affiliated with Dublin Bus. The information contained herein is intended for enthusiast reference. For all current timetable and route information please refer to the official Dublin Bus Website.