Dublin Bus () is an Irish state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann.
History
Dublin Bus was established on 2 February 1987, when Córas Iompair Éireann was split into 3 subsidiaries, Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail.Córas Iompair Éireann Steve Johnson's Railway Pages Dublin's main bus operator was formerly the Dublin United Transport Company. This company was incorporated into CIÉ in 1945.
In September 2011, Dublin Bus received a significant technological upgrade with its introduction of real time passenger information. Real Time Passenger Information
Services
Dublin Bus operates an extensive network of 110 radial, cross-city and peripheral routes and 18 nighttime routes in the city of Dublin and the Greater Dublin Area. The company carries around 325,000 people each day. The main radial routes are focused upon Dublin's sixteen Quality Bus Corridors which provide buses with prioritised access, daytime on some routes, 24 hours on others, to the city centre. Express buses (branded "Xpresso") operate on similar routes but have a limited number of stops and a higher minimum fare. These services run Monday to Friday at peak times and do not operate on public holidays; no bus services operate at all on Christmas Day.
Dublin Bus also runs a Ghost Bus Tour passing some of the supposedly haunted places in the city including St Kevin's Church and St Audoen's Church. The tour usually runs in the evening time and includes two stops where passengers leave the bus behind and visit locations where ghosts have allegedly been seen. (The term "ghost bus" is also used for the unrelated phenomenon of normal scheduled services that fail to arrive.)
In April 2010, Dublin Bus announced it would be simplifying many of its routes around the city in order to create better efficiency. This programme was called Network Direct. However, as part of these measures, the company also announced that 150 jobs would be lost.
During the 2010s, Dublin Bus rolled out an RTPI system (Real Time Passenger Information) at certain stops, which shows the amount of time before a bus arrives directly to the user.
In 2016, the company carried 125 million passengers, which was a reduction of 14% compared to 2005 numbers (first full year of the Luas, which has seen an increase of 33.6% passengers in the same period).Annual Report December 2015 Dublin BusAnnual Report December 2005 Dublin BusFrequently Asked Questions Luas
Between September 2018 and March 2019, 24 Dublin Bus routes and 125 buses were progressively taken over by Go-Ahead Ireland after the National Transport Authority put their operation out to tender,Dublin Bus loses control of 24 bus routes serving suburbs Irish Times 10 August 2017Go-Ahead awarded outer Dublin metropolitan area bus contract Coach & Bus Week 10 August 2017 however an equivalent number of new buses were provided to Dublin Bus to retain existing fleet numbers, with increased services and new routes or route variations introduced on the same day as Go-Ahead took over each route batch.
In October 2023, route 99 began operating as a shuttle service between Parkgate Street and the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. The 99 is the first Dublin Bus route to serve Chesterfield Avenue and important Phoenix Park sites such as Áras an Uachtaráin. This route was not included in the BusConnects network, and was not introduced as part of a BusConnects phase.
In September 2024, route 65a between Tallaght and Blessington was inaugurated as part of service improvements in the Blessington area. This route was also implemented separate to BusConnects.
Nitelink On 6 December 1991 Dublin Bus launched its first 'Nitelink' service aimed at facilitating Christmas revellers returning home from the city centre. The trial service operated from 6 December 1991 to 4 January 1992 (except for certain holidays) on a Mon-Sun basis and cost a flat fare of £2 per person irrespective of how long or short their journey. Nitelink initially consisted of only four routes serving 12 suburban destinations in total with buses leaving on the hour every hour until 3am, from College Street, D'Olier Street and Westmoreland Street. Nitelink is an express service, meaning passengers may only board the buses at the city centre termini and other select locations along the way, although they may disembark at any normal bus stop along the route. Upon completing the journey the buses return to the city centre without passengers.
Over the years the Nitelink service increased to 18 routes overnight, and, until January 2009 ran between Monday and Saturday, with the greatest service frequency being on Friday and Saturday nights. Due to cutbacks necessitated by the 2008 economic downturn in Ireland, the midweek schedule was scrapped. By 2014 there were 18 Nitelink routes running again. Nitelink routes 15n and 41n were discontinued on the 1 December 2019 when 24-hour services on routes 15 and 41 came into effect. Some other areas previously served by the 15n and 41n Nitelinks (but not by the 15 or 41) became incorporated into other Nitelink services. A year later on 13 December 2020, Nitelink route 39n was similarly discontinued when daytime route 39a began operating on a 24-hour basis. Route 25n was discontinued on 16 October 2022 as part of Phase 4.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nitelink services were paused between March 2020 and January 2022 with a brief respite between Fri 22 Oct 2021 and 19 December 2021 during which time services resumed. The service was halted again on Sun 19 December 2021 when an 8pm curfew was put in place on the hospitality industry due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Dublin City Councillor Colm O'Rourke criticised the move, noting "The Nitelink is not just for clubbers; it's for workers and anyone else who needs a low-cost service to get home safely – including people on low wages or perhaps students who work the weekend". Nitelink services eventually returned to full operating hours from Friday 28 January 2022.
Currently, as of October 2022 the Nitelink service operates on Friday and Saturday nights only (technically the early hours of Saturday and Sunday) and consists of 12 separate routes that depart between the hours of 00:00 and 04:00 from the Dublin city centre locations of D'Olier Street, Westmoreland Street and Aston Quay. Each of the route numbers is suffixed by the letter 'n' to denote their night status.
Special (higher) fares apply on Nitelink buses than regular daytime bus services. On 2 September 2022 TFI announced that Nitelink fares across all 13 routes were being reduced with immediate effect; Leap fares by 33% and cash fares by 43%. Sorin Costica, Head of Operations at Dublin Bus said the reduction in fares would "...help reduce night-time carbon emissions by encouraging people to take the bus as opposed to travelling by car."
24-hour services In 2014, Dublin Bus began looking to expand their Nitelink network and also introduce a new dedicated all-night service in the city. By late 2016, Dublin Bus 'Media and Communications Officer' Jennifer O'Brien stated that the company was looking at the possibility of introducing a 24-hour bus service in Dublin from 2017 in conjunction with the National Transport Authority on a phased basis. That same year, Dublin City Councillor Ciarán Cuffe (who also chaired the council's transport committee) said Dublin needed to look at extending the public-transport service at night noting that the last regular bus left the city at around 11:30pm each weeknight and the last Luas at around half past twelve, or midnight on Sundays.
In December 2019, the first of Dublin's 24-hour bus services were eventually rolled out. As of February 2026, the company operates fifteen such routes (which run 24-hours per day, 7 days per week), consisting of routes 15, 39a, 41, C1, C2, C3/5, C4/6, N4, G1, G2, E1, E2, F1, F2, and 80.
Speaking of the 24/7 buses, Dublin Bus have noted that "They are some of our busiest routes, showing the clear appetite for all day and all-night bus services in Dublin." It has been noted, however, that the service frequency on some of the 24-hour routes at night is insufficient, leading to buses to become filled to capacity. The failure of some scheduled buses showing up at night has also been flagged as an issue.
15 and 41 At midnight on 1 December 2019, routes 15 and 41 began operating on a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week basis with no difference in fare, marking the first time Dublin had a regular night bus service. These buses depart their terminals at intervals of 30 minutes between the hours of 11.30pm and 05:00am. Announcing the change, the NTA CEO Anne Graham explained "The patterns of work and socialising have changed. For instance, the success in attracting to the city, major employers who are headquartered many time-zones away, serving markets around the world, means that commercial and economic activity in Dublin continues around the clock".
In June 2022, chief executive of Dublin Bus Ray Coyne told 'Breakfast Business' on Newstalk radio that of the six 24-hour services the company was currently running, route number 15 was "probably the most successful one". He added "We're looking to see if we can increase the frequency on those (six 24-hour services)... the demand is extremely high". Commenting on the 24-hour services in Sep 2022, Gary Kelly, Chief Inspector with Dublin Bus explained how they were a "huge success" witnessing "a big demand". He explained "The 41 from Abbey Street to Swords will often be full at 4am in the morning with workers on their way to Dublin Airport and revellers heading home to Swords [..] That one was badly needed over the years. Two years ago, all those workers would have (had) to drive to the airport and pay for parking, or take a taxi. I can't even imagine".
39a Route 39a began 24-hour operation on 13 December 2020.
C Spine (C1, C2, C5, C6) On 28 November 2021 the National Transport Authority implemented Phase 2 of the rollout of its latest Dublin network with the C Spine, that consists of new C1-C4 routes serving the west of the city. The C1 and C2 services operate 24-hours a day, while the C3 and C4 buses turn into the C5 and C6, that operate through Chapelizod village instead of via the Chapelizod bypass at night. The night-time routes operate every hour, starting between 11:36pm and 00:35am every night of the week, and ending at 4am when normal services commence. Upon the introduction of the C Spine, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that it "provides the communities on its route not just increased frequency, but also a night service offering commuters 24-hour bus connections."
N4 As part of BusConnects Phase 3, the N4 (Blanchardstown Shopping Centre – Point Village via Collins Avenue), came into operation on 29 May 2022. The route was originally supposed to begin in January 2022 but was delayed due to driver shortages. Driver shortages would also delay the rollout of the G-Spine routes later in the year. Anne Graham, CEO of the NTA, stated that "Today's launch is one further step in the delivery of an effective and efficient bus service for the Dublin city region. The network is beginning to take shape and we are confident that this Phase will be just as successful as the previous ones."
G Spine (G1, G2)