THE NEW H3 BUS ROUTE

A BUS JOURNEY TO HOWTH - THE NEW H3 ROUTE

Today I decided the give the new H3 bus route a try and to be honest I found it to be very slow compared the the DART so I returned the the city centre by means of a train rather than a bus.

The National Transport Authority in conjunction with Dublin Bus have launched the first phase of the new BusConnects network for Dublin. This phase includes routes connecting Dublin’s north east to the city centre covering the areas of Howth, Baldoyle, Donaghmede, Raheny, Malahide, Portmarnock and Howth.

BusConnects Dublin plans to deliver an enhanced bus system that is better for the city, its people and the environment. The programme includes a suite of transformative changes to the bus system, intended to make it more efficient, faster, reliable and easier to use. Recent announcements relate to the bus network aspects of the programme and not the infrastructure proposals.

The overall objective of the improved network will be a significant increase in capacity and frequency for customers, as well as more evening and weekend services for all spines. This is the first phase in the implementation of the new BusConnects network and follows on from three rounds of public consultation which concluded in 2020.

The H spine branches are the primary driver of the new network delivering fast and frequent services to the city centre. Services on H1 (from Baldoyle), H2 (from Malahide) and H3 (from Howth) will provide greater levels of service to these residents and the surrounding communities.

The routes commence service from Sunday the 27th of June taking over from the current buses in operation namely the 29a, 32, 31, 31a and 31b. As part of these arrangements the terminus for route 130 will move from Lower Abbey Street to Talbot Street.

The remaining phases of the network will be rolled out over an incremental basis in the coming years with the south east C spine (along the Lucan Road corridor) due to be launched in autumn 2021.