Route 142 is operated by Harristown Garage, using euro peak time duties. AX 496 to 498 which were previously in store at Broadstone after some limited pre service at Summerhill have been allocated to the route, having received specially programmed dmd displays for the 142.
AX 496 is seen operating on the first evening, from Palmerstown Park to Malahide, turning on College Green on the 17.00 hours departure. AX 496 operated the first ever 142 that morning as the 7.25 departure from Portmarnock.
New Dublin Bus route 142 was introduced on Tuesday 22nd May 2007 operating peak time journeys linking Portmarnock, Malahide, the City Centre & Rathmines via the Dublin Port Tunnel.
This is the first official Dublin Bus route to use the new Dublin Port Tunnel. Here is a feature on the route taken during the first week of operation.
AX 497 is seen operating route 142 on the 2nd evening ( Wednesday 3rd May 2007 ) at route 142's Lower Abbey Street, also the terminus for routes 42 & 43. By the 2nd day, the dmd's had been updated to alternate between " Via City Centre " & " Via Port Tunnel ". Having operated the 17.30 hours departure from Palmerstown Park, AX 497 arrives at Lower Abbey Street just after 18.00 hour & spends some time promoting itself to intending customers.
Route 142 operates much like route 42 from Lower Abbey Street, around by Connolly Station, the Five Lamps & the North Strand, however just after Nottingham Street & under the Dublin- Sligo railway bridge, route 142 swings left along route 53's routing to make the necessary loop turn onto the East Wall Road towards Dublin Port. At the old Port Gates, the traditional gateway for travelers & freight using the port, now sealed up, route 142 turns left & around towards the Port Tunnel.
The landscape around Dublin Port has changed considerably since the opening of the Port Tunnel in 2006. The first impressive architecture is the over gantries for tunnel traffic, commanding HGV's to the left & cars to the right. Its peak time & with a 12 euro charge for cars, its a deternant not to use this quick escape out of the City.
The Dublin Port Toll Plaza ahead & control centre to the left, route 142 stays in the inner truck lane. Buses ( over 25 seats ) & trucks do not pay to use the Dublin Port Tunnel, as 5 axle trucks are now banned from the city streets from 7.00- 19.00 hours everyday.
While route 142 is the first official route to use the Dublin Port tunnel, some Dublin Bus Airlink route 748's use the route to avoid the traffic, while some out of service Harristown Garage buses also use the tunnel. A number of coach companies, as well as Bus Eireann/ Translink northbound routes also use the Port Tunnel.
" Keep your distance ", a route 142 is approaching the tunnel. There is two separate tunnels for northbound & southbound traffic, with two lanes each way with a maximum speed of 80 kms.
Route 142 just short of the south tunnel entrance at East Wall, to the right is Eastpoint Business Park, while straight ahead just above the tunnel head is the Alfie Byrne Road & Irish Rail Fairview DART depot.
AX 497 begins its 5 minute spin through the Dublin Port Tunnel, starting from East Wall Road & within minutes arriving along the M1 close to the Coolock interchange. Its quite cold as the bus whizzs by & the thud of a number of windows being closed by passengers, plus the droning sound from outside as the engine noise vibrates along the tunnel wall ( use the video below to experience ).
Day turns to night above , the best view is from the top deck.
Just over 5 minutes later, AX 497 emerges from the Dublin Port Tunnel, one minute at East Wall & then suddenly along the M1 past Santry. The tunnel reaches ground level along the M1 right at the Santry interchange. Route 142 heads northbound, exiting the M1 on the R125 slip road towards Swords & Airside Retail Park.
Having exited the M1 at the R 125 slip road/ Drynam interchange, route 142 meanders around a new housing estate called Holywell located close to the Airside Retail Park. There is currently no set down/ pick up stops along this part of the route due to licensing issues but given that route 142 is the only bus through this vast area, a change would be welcomed by the local residents.
Several minutes later & just passed another new housing development called Waterside, route 142 enters Seabury, home to traditional routes 42 & terminus for route 102. Seamount skirts along Malahide Estuary & route 142 turns left onto Yellow Walls Road following the routing of the 42 towards Malahide Village.
Route 142 enters Malahide Village, numerous winner of tidy towns competitions. In the distance, similar Harristown based Volvo Olympian RV 565, a former Donnybrook veteran on route 7 is operating route 230 towards Portmarnock. along the Coast Road. At the crossroads in Malahide Village, route 142 turns right up Church Road towards Seamount & the old terminus for the 42 before the route was extended to the Coast Road at Portmarnock ( close to The Sands Hotel ) last year.
Similar Harristown Garage AX 498 seen heading down Wendell Avenue on the final straight, having operated the 17.45 departure from Rathmines, marking the terminus at 19.10, not bad for such a cross city route. For the first few days, route 142 was operated using AX 496/ 497 & 498 in numerical sequence.
For the first two week, an extra driver ( known as a mentor ) travels with the drivers to show the routing & advise passengers of the service.
Finally at the terminus, AX 497 seen on the 2nd evening, complete with the revised display " Via Port Tunnel ". Route 142 shares this terminus with Clontarf based routes 32/ 32B, although the last stop is along the Coast Road.
Sincere thanks to Henry from Harristown Garage for his assistance & patience in the making of this feature.
