The Final Run of the Dublin Bus 'P' Class
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P19 in Cityswift livery was given the honour of performing the final official working of this class to the suburb of Clonsilla on the outskirts of north-west Dublin.
Route 39 was the first Cityswift route introduced by Dublin Bus in 1993, the concept being a frequent, quality and fast link to and from the suburbs, along designated bus corridors.
A total of 40 of these Plaxton-Verde bodied DAF SB220s were ordered by Dublin Bus to operate the re-launched Route 39.
After about an hour, P19 arrived at St. Joseph's Hospital. After I was allowed to adjust the scroll for our return trip to the City Centre, we set off again at about 1300.
The interior was suitably decked out with balloons to mark the occasion!
Leaflets were also posted, explaining how the single-deckers became a victim of their own success, due to an upsurge of passengers wanting to take advantage of the Cityswift brand.
This led to overcrowding - and a realisation by Dublin Bus that double-deckers would have to be re-introduced.
P19 comes to rest on O'Connell Street to drop off us bus enthusiasts - and another era in the history of Dublin Bus comes to an end.
Thanks to Tony Cooney, Peter Croft and of course Dublin Bus for organising this memorable event.
Special thanks to our driver, Adrian Jackson whom I met on the day after 25 years - we were childhood pals in Drimnagh!
Nice to see you again Adrian!