From the 31st July 2004 until the 29th May 2005, Irish Rail Northern Suburban services from Drogheda & Dundalk terminated in Portmarnock rail station due to DART track & station upgrade works. The works were related to lengthening train platforms to accommodate longer train sets & also renewed overhead cables. Train passengers were then transferred by Dublin Bus to Connolly & Tara Street Station.
Here is a feature on the last day of a very successful rail replacement operation.......
Dublin Bus Volvo B7TL AV 218 waits at Portmarnock Station on Sunday 29 th May 2005 for a train arrival. Portmarnock Station was neglected for years, with little facilities & only a handful of services. When the DART was extended to Malahide, Portmarnock Station was upgraded to its current status, with a staffed station, car & bike parking facilities & lifts. There has also been substantial housing developments along the road outside the station. As Northern Commuter trains & buses arrive, a Dublin Bus Inspector was on had to guide rail passengers.
Dublin Bus Volvo B7TL AV 218 was originally delivered to former Dublin Bus Broadstone Garage, having been in store there for some time. Its introduction into service coincided with the introduction of route 10A from Stillorgan Shopping Centre. At the time, Broadstone was operating the 10, mainly using Volvo B7 artic's supplemented with the AV decker class.
AV 218, along with 217 & 282 were maintained to a very high standard at Broadstone & kept on harmless routes most of the time.
The Irish Rail service from Portmarnock to Connolly & Tara Street Station operated non stop & as it was a private hire, did not stop along route. Buses operated from Portmarnock via Baldoyle Village, Howth Coast Road, then either via Raheny Village or Clontarf Road. As Irish Rail stipulated it to be operated by low floor buses, Harristown exclusively operated the route, using the Volvo AV class. On a rare occasion, some Olympians were used. Buses displayed either " Private Hire " or " Out of Service ", using running boards 1-32C etc. During early 2005, the dmd's started displaying " Portmarnock 32C " however this was confusing regular bus commuters along the Howth Road waiting on traditional route 32/ 32A/ 32B services, who would stick their hand out in vain & no doubt caused a few phone calls to Clontarf Garage afterwards.
This display was ditched towards the end of the contract.
Dublin Bus Volvo B7TL AV 218 is seen later in the day on Sir John Rogersons Quay on layover. Route 32C's would wait here for intending transfer rail passengers bound for Portmarnock. Again, buses would operate on a timetable ( see below ) connecting with all train arrivals/ departures. These services operated every Saturday/ Sunday throughout the Northside shutdown, apart from a few weekends close to Christmas when work was suspended. The rail replacement bus service also operated on Bank Holiday Mondays.
Broadstone & then becoming Harristown usually used AV 152-168 & 213-218 on the 32C.
Another flexibility of the service was that when not required to operate a specific rail replacement connection, these 32C boards would also operate normal Clontarf routes as extra workings, usually alongside an existing Clontarf departure, on routes 29A, 31/A/B, 32/A/B, 32/A/B & even some 27 & 42B's before slotting back into runs from Portmarnock Station.
The last 32C operated from Tara Street Station on the 29th May 2005 was typical AV 153, a favorite on the route.
