A series of changes to some Dublin bus routes will come into effect on Sunday.
The amendments are being made to routes servicing areas such as Chapelizod and Finglas. Residents had made complaints and held a number of protests following changes made under Phase 7 of the BusConnects plan last October.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) said the moves are a response to issues that had arisen since October.
In particular, it said, routes 23, 24 and 80 have experienced continuing reliability issues and driver availability constraints.
Routes 23 and 24, which currently operate via Bridge Street, High Street and Christ Church, will now operate along the quays, crossing the river Liffey at O’Connell Bridge before continuing past Trinity College to their existing terminus at Merrion Square.
The NTA said the routing change is expected to significantly improve reliability while restoring direct access to the O’Connell Bridge area, previously served by Route 83.
Route 80, which currently operates between Liffey Valley and the south city via Chapelizod, and through the city centre via the quays, Bridge Street, High Street and South Great George’s Street, will on an interim basis operate along the existing route alignment as far as Bridge Street. It will then continue along the quays to O’Connell Bridge, College Green and Dame Street and then on to South Great Georges Street to resume its current alignment to Palmerston Park.
The NTA said the changes are designed to improve service reliability while retaining strong connectivity to key city centre destinations, including the O’Connell Bridge area.
At a later date, the NTA said routes 80 and 130 will be brought together to form a single cross‑city service. This will operate along the north and south quays between Liffey Valley and Clontarf, providing a continuous link between Heuston Station, O’Connell Bridge and the Custom House.
It expects that the combined Route 80 and Route 130 service will be introduced next year.
“These amendments are a direct response to customer and community feedback and are aimed at improving reliability, resilience and connectivity across the network,” said Jeremy Ryan, the NTA’s director of public transport services.
“We will continue to monitor the performance of these routes closely and make further adjustments where necessary to ensure passengers experience a more dependable service.”