Public Transport
von Felix
Yesterday afternoon, the Luas Red Line only operated between Tallaght-Blackhorse and Heuston-Conolly. Instead of providing shuttle buses to bridge the gap, they just „apologize[d] for any inconvenience“. Any? Bullshit!
So, take the bus. This only works if you have a certain knowledge of the city, because the information provided in the bus shelter is little and almost useless and the next bus stop is not announced during the ride. Being in Dublin for quite some time, I fortunately have this required level of knowledge. If you don’t have it, you can at least make use of the plenty of time that you are waiting for the bus to guess. The timetables provided are almost obsolete. Depending on your location, the bus will be about 10 to 20 minutes late… if it arrives.
However, you also need money. Of course, you say. Well, you need to have the exact fare. In coins, no bank notes accepted. While every Luas stop has a ticket vending machine that accepts bank notes, you are just flat on your back if you are forced to take the bus and don’t happen to have coins.
During the night, you can only take the so-called Nitelink bus. It does not matter where you want to go, you have to pay a fiver. Although that is more than twice the cost of Tallaght-Dublin one way during the day, you don’t get any extra service, e.g. security. Moreover, the bus driver will likely not adhere to the regular route, so be extra attentive where you currently are and prepared to be later in bed than you wanted to be. Especially if you want to get off at Tramway Court or The Square.
Dublin wants to play with the big guys. But while cities like Berlin, Lodon, Hamburg or Madrid can, despite their size, provide acceptable means to get from A to B for citizens and tourists alike, public transport in Dublin is just broken in so many ways. Hell, even German small towns, such as Bamberg or Hilden, manage to run a proper bus system during the day.