Photo of the Week - Week 38:


Phibsborough's VT64 is seen on the Belfield Campus, with the two iconic chimneys of the Poolbeg Power Station peering out above the trees, is seen on the 39A approaching the former Belfield Campus terminus of Route 39A on the 12th May 2012.

Its been six months since a Phibsborough bus has appeared as image of the week on these pages. To some extent its because the allocations can be seen as somewhat of a formality. Also Network Direct has been an gone with regards to this garage, with the changes already effective on the corridors where Phibsborough operate. With no new GTs coming to Phibsborough, it is likely to remain out of the limelight. Thus with many of the new features dealing with the arrivals of the new GTs and the withdrawals of the the RVs, it seems like an opportune time to include a few photos of the Enviro500 tri-axels which are the mainstay of the 39A Monday-Saturday.


Phibsborough's VT61 is seen turning from Baggot Street Upper onto Waterloo Road operating Route 39A on the 25th February 2012.

The 70 VTs are an incredible sight on the city streets. It's surprising, given the successful implementation of these buses in Dublin, that London hasn't followed. One would think that they would be ideal for this bustling city, potentially being equipped with 2 stairs and 3 exits, to speed up boarding. This is the main downfall of the Dublin Bus VT specification. The single-door format means that when full, on a busy corridor, these buses suffer long delays at stops with people struggling to enter and exit. It's also surprising that more were not purchased. Routes such as the 145, 41 and 16 would be ideal candidates for these monster vehicles, though given a lot of the VT36-70 batch confined to peak hour Xpresso services, it would seem that there could be scope for moving these vehicles into all day service. Another option, if VTs are required on these Broadstone operated services, would be to move the 2005 VT1-20 batch to Broadstone in place of VT36-56. The 2005 VTs, suffer even more from loading problems, as they have a narrower door than the 2007 batch of VTs.


VT55 is seen at the Blanchardstown centre inbound stop operating Route 39A on the 14th April 2012.

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.