Dublin Bus has announced the extension of its Nitelink service to six days a week permanently. Late-night bus services were introduced on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays temporarily on November 30th to facilitate commuters in the busy festive season. Buoyed by the high uptake since then, the company has decided to make the move permanent.
Almost 220,000 tickets were sold for the Nitelink service in the four-week period up to New Year's Eve. Demand was boosted by the taxi strike in the early part of last month, leading to a record 17,373 people taking a Nitelink on Saturday, December 2nd. The overall customer figure for the month was almost double Dublin Bus's target for the season and compares to just 87,841 Nitelink customers during the same period in 1999.
From next week, Nitelink buses will operate on all routes on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, leaving the city at 12.30 a.m. and 2 a.m. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday, buses will depart every 20 minutes until 4.30 a.m. on all routes except the 33N, 67N, 70N and 88N, which will have services at 12.30 a.m., 2 a.m. and 3.30 a.m.
However, Sunday Nitelink services have been dropped due to a poor uptake from commuters. Dublin Bus spokesman Mr Joe Collins said running costs, incorporating overtime, were too high to justify Sunday services, given the level of demand.
On Sunday, December 3rd, 1,232 people used the service, which was well below the monthly average of 7,300 customers a night. Only 712 people travelled by Nitelink on Sunday, December 10th, and just 882 on Sunday, December 17th. Last Sunday, however, New Year's Eve, 11,120 people used it. Mr Collins said Dublin Bus would continue to provide Sunday services on such special occasions.
Nitelink remains only a small element of Dublin Bus's operations, accounting for less than 1 per cent of fares in 1999 (685,542 compared to 194 million for the company as a whole). It has, however, emerged as one of the company's more profitable enterprises.
One factor in this success, said Mr Collins, was that a Nitelink bus was able to charge premium rates of between £3 and £4.50. "While a lot of the work requires overtime payments to drivers, in terms of fuel and running costs, the bus has paid for itself during the day." The service was launched just before Christmas 1991 as part of a campaign to tackle drink-driving in the capital. In the following 12 months, 204,966 customers travelled by Nitelink.
The number of routes has since been increased from 12 to 21, with the 70N, 88N, 44N and 15B the latest additions. On each, there are now between two and four pick-up points. Before, passengers could only catch a Nitelink in the city centre.
Services have also been extended into suburban areas such as Tallaght, Blanchardstown, Clondalkin, Finglas and Shankill.
