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KD1-366

Entry into service and initial operation

May1981-September 1983

Please note: the following text was written by me in January and September 1983, and is presented unaltered.

It was a warm summer afternoon, Thursday the 28th of May 1981. The usual rush-hour traffic was beginning to choke up the city streets, and CIE's aging bus fleet was on the road carrying the capital's commuters.

In the height of the evening rush, at around 17.30, a time-expired Atlantean broke down at Ballsbridge on the 8 route. A seemingly ordinary event, but one which marked a turning point in the Dublin city bus fleet, for when the replacement arrived from the garage it was KD2, and the first of CIE's long awaited third generation of double-deckers finally went into service.

Travelling on board the KD were Donnybrook maintainence chiefs Tony Goode and Jimmy Hendricks. News of its entry into service quickly spread around the enthusiast community, and by the time time that KD2 made the return trip 45 minutes later they had been joined by Ian Molloy, Gary Manahan, Gabriel Conway and others.

KD2 was on its own that first night in service, but the following morning KD1 could be found working the 7, 7A and 8 alongside it. They were very distinctive in their livery of two-tone green, and attracted much comment from the travelling public. They were to be the only KD type buses in service for most of the summer, during which time a number of minor faults were discovered and rectified.

Early problems involved the doors and electrical systems.

The first of the production batch of KDs entered service from Clontarf on the 10th of August 1981. These were KD3, 4 and 5, and they worked the 31/32 group of routes. On their first night in service they were moved onto the 30 after 7pm to be close to the garage, this greatly confused the regular passengers on that route, who had been used to nothing but the very oldest buses, and stared open mouthed at the gleaming green monsters. A few days later KD10 was the next into service, while KD9 was held back as a training bus for Clontarf, a function it filled for a number of weeks, often being found travelling back and forth along the Bull Island causeway.

In the following weeks Clontarf received buses up to KD22, as well as KD27, 28. This batch became the basic allocation of routes 31, 31A, 32, 32A, 32B. A problem arose with excessive susspension noise on this batch, this was resolved by treating the airbags with a special liquid. A more ominous shadow over these buses however was their high fuel consumption when compared to the buses they were replacing.

Vehicles in this batch had their ceilings raised fractionally while on the production line, all further ones being built with increased height as standard, following complaints from the NBU.

KD3 and 4 had extra chrome finish on the rear bodywork. KD20 had its interior metal trim, such as seat and handrails finished in shiny chrome, this feature was later to be adopted as standard. This bus is no relation to the vehicle registered 20 JZL which was demonstrated at the UITP Conference, that vehicle became KD191 and its story will be told later.

Donnybrook was next to receive new buses, with KD23-26, and 29-33 being allocated for the 7, 7A 8 routes. Later KD23, 24 would moved to Clontarf in exchange for 27, 28, making the batches as follows:

KD1, 2 Donnybrook

KD3-24 Clontarf

KD25-33 Donnybrook.

Ringsend was next to get a Bpmbardier allocation, with KD34-38 entering service on the 49, 49A and 77 group of routes. At this stage few if any of the KDs strayed onto the 65, though this batch can often be found on it now. KDs from 35 onwards did not have the chrome surround on the destination box door upstairs, using a rubber seal instead.

KD39-48 were allocated to Donnybrook, and took up duties on the lengthy 44 and 84 routes, with 39-44 usually on the 84, and 45-48 on the 44. It was interesting to see these routes linked in terms of vehicle allocation nearly 50 years after being taken over from the Wicklow Hills Bus Company. KD48 was the final bus to feature a chrome strip along the side between decks.

KD49 was allocated to Cork, where it took up duty on city route 8.

KD50 was allocated to Limerick, and was driven under a low bridge in its first week of service, but was quickly repaired.

Conyngham Road was next to receive new buses - KD51-58, 60-67 and 69, 70 entering service on routes 51, 68, 69 during November and early December.

Meanwhile KD59, 68, 71 and 72 were allocated to Summerhill, where they entered service on December 12th, operating a free shoppers bus service that operated between Parnell Square and Stephens Green until Christmas Eve.

Each bus was sponsored by, and carried advertising for, a city store or mall:

KD59 Arnotts

KD68 ILAC Centre

KD71 Clearys

KD72 Switzers.

At the same time, KD73-82 were being delivered to Summerhill, where they entered service on the 20, 20A, 20B, 54 and 54A.

KD83, 84 were allocated new to Conyngham Road to cover for 59 and 68, which were to come there after Christmas.

KD85-91 continued the Summerhill allocation.

Immediately after Christmas, the end of the free service allowed KD59, 68 to move to Conyngham Road, with 83, 84 going to Summerhill, thus making the batches:

KD51-70 Conyngham Road

KD71-91 Summerhill.

By strange coincidence, these batches were quite similar to the numbers of the RA-class Titan PD3s which they were replacing.

Up to this point, all KDs had been delivered to CIE with the registration plate mounted offcentre on the front bumper, the company relocating them to a centre panel position before entering service. A few slipped through the net and ran in service with the bumper-mounted registrations, including KD38 and 72 in Dublin, and KD50 in Limerick. From KD92 onwards, the buses were delivered with the plates mounted in the CIE preferred position on the centre panel.

Although 1982 was to be a record year for KD production, things got off to a slow start, with heavy snow preventing new vehicles from reaching Dublin in early January. After the thaw Ringsend received KD92-101 for the Tallaght routes.

The next new buses were allocated to Clontarf, with KD102-104, 106-110, and 112-114 entering service on the 29A, 29B, and 30, finally converting the latter route to doored bus operation, after more than 40 years operated by generations of Leyland Titan halfcabs. The route was unusual in being the only existing double-deck route in the CIE system never to be converted to Atlantean operation, as although Sunday services were D operated from 1975, the Monday to Saturday operation remained Titan operated right up to the arrival of this batch of KDs in February 1982.

The missing buses in this batch were KD105, which was retained in Broadstone as a technical trainer, and KD111 which joined the Driving School at Phibsboro, where it stayed for several months.

Conyngham Road received KD115-124 to replace its final RAs, and deliveries started to Phibsboro, where KD125-139 entered service on the Blanchardstown routes, displacing DFs onto other routes, allowing the first whole scale withdrawal of D-class Atlanteans.

On the 27th of March 1982, KD52 was involved in a special run on route 23, which marked the official sendoff for the last halfcab in the CIE fleet, RA138. However, Clontarf was still missing KD105, 111, and did not withdrawn their last two RAs, and so the type continued in service until April 2nd, when the diversion of KD140, 141 from the Phibsboro deliveries allowed them to be withdrawn. Thus it was these two KDs which were responsible for the final elimination of the Leyland Titan, and the end of halfcab operation with CIE. The two buses later transferred to Phibsboro, where they now mingle innocently with the others of the batch on the 19/A.

Phibsboro had also received KD142-145, 147-149, making a full batch of KD125-149 (except 146).

KD146 was built as a prototype for the double-deckers of the future, as a decision was taken to alter the design to eliminate the thirsty GM engine once the first production run of 365 vehicles ends. KD146 had a straight 6 Cummins engine and Voith 3-speed gearbox. It was sent to MIRA in the UK for extensive pre-service testing, where it remained for many months. This is the only KD built to this new specification so far, all the others are as before.

In the Phibsboro batch, KD128 had Bennett electronic transmission.

Donnybrook then received an allocation of KD150-174, with 150-159 being used on the 48A, and 160-174 entering service on the 46A.

A number of variations occurred during this batch. KD154 onwards had the silver interior trim as trialled on KD20, while KD169 was another single vehicle with Bennett transmission, and KD174 sported a plain engine cover, without the grille which was in place on all earlier deliveries. This batch entered service during April/May 1982.

KD175-189 were allocated to Cork, mostly for city routes 3 and 8, with occasional use on provincial services. KD190-197 were allocated to Limerick, converting the Shannon Airport route to Bombardier operation, this being the service which carried most of the Bombardier employees to work.

The demonstration vehicle, which had been displayed at the UITP conference a year earlier as 20 JZL, now assumed its own identity as KD191, and was part of the Limerick allocation,. It had lost its liquid crystal destination display, but retained the Rolls Royce engine, Waterford Crystal windscreen, wood-effect interious, and cream coloured corduroy covered seating.

KD197 had been allocated new to Limerick, but was involved in a serious accident on its first night in service, and after repair was transferred to Phibsboro.

KD198-222 were also allocated to Phibsboro, with a registration change from JZL to OZU taking place at 201/202. In this batch KD218 had a new type of doors, English made rather than the German model usually fitted. These had rounded rather than square corners on the glass panels.

The next allocation was of KD223 to 236 to Donnybrook for route 45. In this batch, another variation was introduced. KD226 onwards had a raised cover on the engine compartment inside, into which some of the external boxes had vanished. It had a small circular air-intake grille between decks towards the rear of the offside. KD64 had been sporting a similar arrangment for some time, and it was decided to modify all previous deliveries to match the new system. Buses so modified can be easily distingushed, as the engine compartment now obscures the lower part of the rear window, and the grille on the engine compartment door is panelled over, or the door replaced.

Meanwhile KDs from 229 onwards had the Bennett electronic transmission (as trialled on KD128, 169) as standard.

At this stage doubts began to be raised about the future of the Bombardier plant, due to cutbacks in government funding to CIE. It was decided that in the light of this, small batches would be allocated to as many garages as possible before the factory closed, so that each would have some new buses in case the closure was lengthy.

KD237-241 went to Summerhill for the Swords routes, KD242-246 went to Conyngham Road to complete conversion of the Lucan Road services, while 247-251, and 254-263 went to Ringsend for the Tallaght routes. KD252, 253 went to Clontarf.

KD264 started a new batch for Donnybrook, and from this bus onwards the new style of doors (as per KD218) was fitted as standard.

Donnybrook received KD264-281, of which 264-268 went to work on the 44, 269 to 274 on the 84, 275-278 were new onto the 86, and 279-281 were intended for the 45A.

The threatened closure of the Bombardier factory happened on the 29th of October, and KD280, which had been rejected by Donnybrook as not up to standard was locked up in the factory while CIE and the government argued over funding, and the Bombardier workers were left on the dole.

The money was eventually found, and the factory reopened with fewer workers and a reduced output in December. KD280 was released back to Donnybrook, along with new KD281-283, and took up duty on the 45A.

KD284-288 were delivered to Summerhill and immediately put to work on the Christmas shoppers service, however 284 was involved in an accident and was replaced on the service by KD81.

As before, there were special sponsors:

KD285 Arontts

KD286 Marks & Spencer

KD287 Brown Thomas

KD288 Arnotts

KD81 carried no special advertising.

After Christmas, the buses went onto the Swords routes.

KD289-293 went to Conyngham Road, and 294-301 were allocated to Phibsboro for route 10.

KD300 was the last OZU registered bus, 301 upwards carrying GSI registrations (GSI 301 etc).

KD302-311 went to Ringsend early in 1983 and were put to work on the 50 (301, 302) and the 15/A/B/C (303-311).

KD312-317 were allocated to Summerhill for the 33, 33B and the 41 group, but were an unlucky batch. KD312 hit a low bridge at Port Laois on its delivery run, and had to be rebuilt before entering service while KD317 was destroyed by fire while outstationed at Donabate when only 6 months old.

KD318-323 went to Conyngham Road, while KD324, 325 were allocated first to Limerick, then Galway, and later Cork.

KD326-328 went to Conyngham Road, while 329-337 was the final batch to go to Ringsend.

KD338-351 were allocated to Phibsboro, mainly working the Blanchardstown routes, while KD352 was allocated as a single vehicle to Clontarf.

Phibsboro's KD346 was loaned to the Driving School for a number of weeks before entering service.

During June, July and early August 1983 KD353-365 arrived at Donnybrook to work the 7, 7A, 8, displacing some of the earlier KDs onto other Donnybrook routes.

It became known during August that there was to be one extra KD bus produced as a replacement for KD111 which had been destroyed in an accident a year earlier, but when the Bombardier plant shut down for the summer break, the bus had still not been completed. During the course of the two-week break, Bombardier sold the factory to GAC, and so there was some debate as to whose name the new bus would carry. However, when KD366 was finally delivered to Donnybrook in mid September 1983, it was badged as a Bombardier.

It entered service on the 7, 7A and 8 routes, just as the very first KD had done two years and four months earlier.

Production at the Shannon plant will now be concentrated on production of KC and KR type single-deckers.

When production of double-deckers does eventually resume, they will probably be of the KD146 design, and may even constitute an entirely new class, always assuming of course, that the plant can survive the vageries of the politicians use of funding to CIE as a political football.

For the next few years however, the buses described in this article should form the backbone of the city fleet, having risen from being a comparative rarity two years ago to the majority status that they now enjoy on most major routes.

The wheel has turned full circle, and Dublin's buses are green again.