I have to say that the fact that the 8 was removed from service appears, to me, to be a symptom of a bigger crisis brewing within Dublin Bus itself. Lately, I've been astonished at the service reductions, the nonsensical route consolidations, and the inexplicable apperances of all of these once-a-day alpha-suffixed routes which seem to run the gamut of the first five letters of the alphabet. Even some of the first City Imp routes are falling victim to the management's current megalomania. All these route alterations simply can't be responses to passengers' requests for better service - certainly, the removal of route 8 and replacing it with all this connecting service will prove to be more headache than anything (what happens to all the supplementary service via Dún Laoghaire, Monkstown, Blackrock, etc. that the 8 used to provide? I don't see it being made up with additional 7 service). I hope enough people speak up to Dublin Bus so we can get the number 8 back - too many traditional routes have fallen to the megalomaniacal behaviour of DB's management.
Alan
: As many of you probably already know, Dublin Bus have, in there infinite wisdom, decided to scrap the number 8 bus route. This was one of the oldest bus routes in the world, it was serviced by horse and carraige and then by electrified tram in the 19th century, and in the 1950s it became a bus service.
: It is the only way some people in Dalkey, especially the older members of the population, have of getting to places such as St. Vincents or St. Michaels hospitals. Now they must use a combination of different buses and timetables to make the journey.
: Now, you may never use the 8, but think about this. If Dublin Bus can cancel this route without a fight, who's to say what route is next. Just look how they handled the 86. They couldn't scrap it because of their public service commitments, so they reduced it to one bus per day! Your route could be next, before you know it they could be expecting YOU to take 3 different buses (paying 3 fares) to get where you want to go, instead of the one you get currently get.
: Let's not let this one go.
: Dublin Bus -- Reinstate the Eight