No longer ‘smothered by the 46a’

The iconic 46a bus that runs between Dun Laoghaire and the Phoenix Park via North Circular Road will disappear from bus timetables across Dublin as part of a new BusConnects scheme that will see it replaced by a 24-hour service that won’t serve the NCR.

Phase 6a of the BusConnects Network Redesign will see the introduction of the all-day-all-night E2, which will run from IKEA (Ballymun) to Dun Laoghaire via the city centre, along with several other changes. The number 11 Sandyford bus will start serving the NCR and Phoenix Park instead of its current route to and from Glasnevin North. 

Phase 6a commenced in September with the new orbital N2 route, which runs from Heuston Station to Clontarf Road Station via Griffith Avenue. The rest of Phase 6a was initially scheduled to be implemented this month but has been pushed back to January 2025. 

The 46a famously featured in Bagatelle’s ‘Summer in Dublin’, in which lead singer Liam Reilly sang that his “humming was smothered by the 46a” and that he “jumped on a bus to Dun Laoghaire”. The near 100-year-old bus route is loved by commuters, running as often as every eight minutes, efficiency some other routes can only dream of.

The 46a was first introduced all the way back in 1926 by the Dublin United Tramways Company and has more or less followed the same route on the southside since its introduction – though the NCR leg was a relatively recent amendment.

“It will be such a shame to see it go,” said one frequent user of the bus. “It’s just so efficient, with other buses they’re always late or not showing up – I’ve never had that problem with the 46a. It won’t be the same without it – it’s become an iconic part of the area. It’s going to take some time to adjust.”