“Today is the day, Now is the hour, Save the 11, Through people power.”
So chanted up to 100 protesters who took their unhappiness with the loss of Dublin Bus Route 11 to the National Transport Authority offices in Smithfield on Wednesday afternoon.
The protesters said they were unhappy with the loss of the cross-city Route 11, which ran between Wadelai Park, Finglas, and the Sandyford Business District.
In a condemnation of the replacement, Route 19, the protesters claimed it was an airport bus service that terminated at Parnell Square. They added to their musical repertoire by singing “the wheels on the bus won’t go through town, all day long”.
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David Rees of Hilcrest Park, Finglas, said he took his six-year-old daughter on the bus to St Stephen’s Green every morning and she returned on the bus in the evening.
But he said Route 19 terminates in Parnell Square, leaving them with delays and inconvenient changing to another bus or the Luas.
“This is because the National Transport Authority described Parnell Square as a destination with a hospital. But it is not a proper terminus and I would have safety concerns for my daughter,” he said.
Margaret White of Hillcrest Park, Finglas, said 25 per cent of the population of Finglas was elderly and the restrictions involved in the new route meant their ability to participate in ordinary travel would be impeded. She said in addition to terminating at Parnell Square, Route 19 would come from the airport and serve Phibsboro rather than Drumcondra.
Patrick Fallon of Glasnevin said the new number 19 bus route starts at the airport and there were capacity concerns among the local community. “The 19 also goes through Phibsboro, where there is no bus corridor so it is going to be very slow,” he said.
Mr Fallon added the 11 route linked the three universities – DCU, TCD and UCD – and its loss would be felt deeply on both sides of the city.
Mr Rees said: “Our number-one objective is to have a conversation with the NTA to talk about it.” But he said although the authority had met local public representatives, “they refused to meet us”.
The National Transport Authority said public consultation on the Dublin network redesign had been under way since 2017. A spokesman said “much of what the 11 currently does will be done by a new route, the 19, which will run from Dublin Airport, through Ballymun, serving Wadelai Estate, (the current 11 terminus) and on to the centre of Dublin.”
He said Route 19 would operate to a greater frequency than the 11, and “Parnell Square is home to a gallery, a theatre, a music venue and a big hospital along with offices, shops and hotels, so for many customers is a destination in its own right.”
