New bus route 80 amended after complaints from local commuters

The National Transport Authority will amend the new 80 bus route after complaints from commuters.

The proposal announced on Friday involves merging the 80 with the existing 130 that already runs from the city centre to Clontarf, meaning the revamped 80 will continue along the north quays to Eden Quay and then northward through the city centre.

The new 80 bus route was brought in as part of phase seven of the BusConnects programme at the end of October and runs from Liffey Valley Shopping Centre towards Palmerston Park as a 24-hour service with a 10-minute frequency at peak times.

Residents of Palmerstown and Chapelizod had raised concerns about the new service, brought in as part of BusConnects phase seven, which saw several new services come in and others retired.

The new route will come into operation in Q2 2026 and also offers new connectivity to the Luas Green Line at O’Connell St, and DART at Connolly.

NTA Director of Public Transport Services Jeremy Ryan said: “The customer feedback we got was that rather than turning right off the quays to cross the Liffey at Bridge St, route 80 would be more useful if it went further along the quays so that people could benefit from the bus priority measures in place along the quays, and the greater connectivity to the O’Connell St area and onward transport services in that area.

“We’ve taken a look at that, and we believe it makes sense.  NTA is happy to take that feedback on board and we have asked Dublin Bus to amend the service accordingly.”

Route 80 will operate from Liffey Valley to Chapelizod on a revised alignment along the quays to the south city from early 2026 as a temporary measure.

The removal of the 26 in October for the 80 had signalled the end of a direct link from the two areas to city centre spots such as O’Connell Street,

Palmerstown/Fonthill councillor Madeleine Johansson noted that the service has been a big issue for people living in the areas mentioned.

Cllr Johansson said: “It is a really big issue both for people in Palmerstown and people in Chapelizod…this is a huge issue, and I want us to raise it with the NTA when we meet them in January.”

The 26 route previously ran from Merrion Square to Liffey Valley and Merrion Square currently requires two buses from Chapelizod and Palmerstown to reach, having previously been a terminal stop.

The 80 has also been subject to outstanding cancellation issues, with 21 buses cancelled on Thursday, November 27 alone – just under 12 per cent of all buses.

The service is intended to run every ten minutes from 6am to 11pm and then in half hour and hourly intervals through the night.

Councillor Niamh Fennell shared her personal experience with the 26 as she uses it to go to her day job.

Cllr Fennell stated: “We all talk about it while we’re on the bus, I got the bus at 8:10am….and I work in Temple Bar in town as part of my day job and I didn’t arrive to work til 9:40am.

“Previously, that journey should taken about 40 to 50 minutes and it took nearly the guts of two hours.”

Delays have occurred at several points along the route, but Fennell noted that the delays in Palmerstown are very poor.

Those delays carry on into Chapelizod and beyond and have seen many people attempt to get on the same bus to avoid further delays to their personal schedules.

“So, then the bus has to bypass people when it gets to Chapelizod as well. So, it’s just causing absolute ruckus in the community.”