connolly railway station in dublin city centre has been undergoing extensive reconstruction over the past few months, between interior refurbishment of the rail station itself & now is connected with the luas light rail system & lastly some long distance commuter bus departures. here is a feature on integration, something of a novelty in irish public transport.......
firstly, long established dublin bus route 90 linking irish rails connolly station with the city centre & further on to heuston station. this high frequency low floor route is popular with commuters & travelers providing a link which is otherwise too long to walk. route 90 now departs just beyond the station entrance to the left at its own busbay.
formerly, this angle would have been known at " the ramp " alongside connolly station, but now redeveloped & the luas light rail " red line " operating from Tallaght, serving kingswood, drimnagh, heuston station, bus aras - central bus station & terminating at connolly station.
seen above is a luas tram loading for tallaght, under the tiered canopy with connolly station located at the rear of the tram.
bus eireann began operating commuter services to mullingar, edenderry & wicklow services from this location from the 11th october 2004. while the main reason was to free up space at the overcrowded bus aras - central bus station, this departure point allows a rapid exit from the city centre.
recently delivered sc 57 is seen at the terminus. in the old days, allot of bus eireann coaches used the ramp for parking & since its removal have been used the less popular sheriff street bus bays
panview of the new layout with the bus eireann departures alongside the luas tram under the canopy.
hopefully some trees will be planted to take away the clinical feel to the area, not to mention the lack of shelter to the bus eireann passengers, in the typical wet irish weather.
