END OF ROUTE 13B

Final run Friday 19th August 2005
Dublin Bus withdrew route 13B which operated from D' Olier Street via Ranelagh to Palmerston Park on Friday 19th August 2005. Here is a feature on the last ever bus & duty, operated by Volvo Olympian RV 330 of Donnybrook Garage.

Palmerston Park & the Beechwood area have enjoyed a regular bus service since the 1920 & 30's & by the seventies, routes 12 & 13 were operating into the area. Cross city route 13 from Wadelai Park eventually absorbed route 12 as mergers took place.

Until 1994, the cross city route 13 was operating from Poppintree in Ballymun via the City Centre to Palmerston Park, with a brisk Monday to Friday frequency of every 25 minutes with lesser services over the weekends.

Declines on the Palmerston end began in June 1994, with most Saturday & all Sunday services only operating between Poppintree & Kildare Street. The route was then moved from Donnybrook to Summerhill Garage, with some buses also transferring to operate the route, namely Van Hools  DF 760 from Ringsend & D741 & D635 from Donnybrook.

Another significant milestone was in November 1997 with the re organisation of bus routes in Ballymun. Conyngham Road Garage routes 36 & 36A, traditionally operated by the KC single decker class where withdrawn & route 13 was converted to Cityswift status, with the 13 operating over its stndard routing from Ballymun & Sillogue Road to the City Centre, while new route 13A operated along the former 36 & 36A via Griffith Avenue. A new City Centre terminus was created on Merrion Square, close to the corner overlooked by Dail Eireann. This Northside change created a new route 13B operating from D'Olier Street via Ranelagh to Palmerston Park with a new Monday to Saturday timetable, still being operated by Summerhill for a short period using mostly KC single deckers, some former of Clontarf Garage, before Donnybrook regained control of the 13B.

Until withdrawal in 2005, it was always operated by Olympians, usually the oldest in the fleet with RA 176/ 177  favorites on the route. These two buses, incidentally had allover liveries at the time for Pepsi & Nitelink, a trend from the 80's & old Van Hool days, when Manhattan Peanuts & Radion washing powder were allocated to  the route.
Route
13B
d'olier street
nassau street
kildare street
stephens green
leeson street
appian way
ranelagh
beechwood
dunville avenue
palmerston road
cowper road
palmerston park
Back to the final day & RV 330 is seen parked on Cowper Road just around the corner from the terminus at Palmerston Park. RV 330 was delivered in 1997, being one of the first RV class fully Volvo chasis & engined Olympians following the takeover of Leyland. RV 330 was delivered in green & cream Coastal Tours livery to operate the daily North & South Coast tours of Dublin, later to be joined by similar RV 496. Both had crude wheelchair lifts in the centre doors. RV 330 also spent allot of time on the 14/14A's when not operating the tours offpeak.
Nearside shot of RV 330 also on Cowper Road, having operated the 1600 D' Olier Street to Palmerston Park service. While the bus was far from full, most of the regulars were well aware of the demise of the 13B & now will have no bus service into their area. While selected 14A service will now operate via the Park, its merely a token gesture & most of the old 13B routing will no longer be served.
While the southside of the 13 / 13B service has been suffering from poor loadings since the 90's, the arrival of Dublin's light rail LUAS which crosses over the route with stations at Beechwood & Cowper was the final straw offering faster travel times to the City Centre. Seen above is the Beechwood Station of the Green Line to Saint Stephens Green from Sandyford. With a LUAS frequency of every 7 minutes, the 40 minutes 13B timetable was no match.
Upper saloon of RV 330 still in superb condition, even the back seats. Sadly, most seats were never used on the 13B.
End of the line as the last ever 13B, the 18.20 from the City Centre scrolls off to As Seirbhis/ Out of Service to return special to the garage thereby ending direct services to Palmerston Park.

From Monday 22nd August 2005, selected 14A services to/ from the LUAS interchange at Dundrum will operate via Palmerston Park & Road, replacing the 13B.

Finally, many thanks for the driver on the day, Paddy for accommodating various photo opportunities on the last day.

MAP OF PALMERSTON PARK

DUBLIN BUS ROUTE 14A Via Palmerston Park
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Driver & pilot for the last ever 13B,  Paddy , who operated the last 18:20 from the City Centre. Fair play to Paddy for putting up with the enthusiasts & photographs.....