Dublin Bus (No. 46A)

Dublin Bus Route 46A is a bus route in Dublin, Ireland, that runs from Phoenix Park, in Dublin city centre, to Mallin Station in Dun Laoghaire. It is operated by Dublin Bus (and previously, by Coras Iompair Éireann Dublin City Services).

Route
It runs on the Stillorgan Quality Bus Corridor, via O'Connell Street, D'Olier Street, Nassau Street, St Stephen's Green, Leeson Street, and after exiting the city centre proper passes through the south Dublin suburbs of Donnybrook, Stillorgan. and Foxrock, utillising the N11 road for a large portion of its journey. Dublin Bus states that the journey time should be 80–85 minutes, though this can vary widely depending on traffic volumes.

Although Dublin Bus' route numbering system might suggest that this route is a variant of a Dublin Bus Route 46, the 46a has long been the more important route. Since the introduction of the Stillorgan QBC in August 1999 the 46A has had a frequency of buses on average every 4 minutes or less during peak hours and approximately every 8 minutes off-peak. . The success of the 46A led to the Route 46 being ended in October 2004.

The 46a is the busiest bus route in Dublin or Ireland (Source Dublin Bus annual report 2004)

The route was branded as a CitySwift route in the mid-1990s, and, following the August 1999 launch of the QBC, began carrying Super CitySwift sector branding and Stillorgan Flyer sub-branding, in an attempt by Dublin bus to promote the QBC routes. This included the provision of on-board route maps. However the route's separate branding ended in 2006 with the decision by Dublin Bus to end most of its separate sub-brands.

In September 2010, the route was augmented to serve Phoenix Park



Variants

 * Route 46B serves Sandyford Industrial Estate.
 * Route 46C serves Cherrywood.
 * Route 44D serves Carrickmines.
 * Route 46E serves Blackrock railway station. There is just one service a day on this route.
 * Route 46N is a night service on the 46A route, operating outbound as far as Dalkey.

Cultural references
The bus number is mentioned in the refrain of Bagatelle's, song Summer in Dublin:

"I was singing a song I heard somewhere,

Called "Rock'n'Roll Never Forget",

When my humming was smothered by the 46A,

And the scream of a low flying jet.

Paul Howard, the writer of the satiricial Ross O'Carroll-Kelly books (Sunday Tribune) and newspaper columns has claimed that his journeys on the 46A and 10 are primary sources for the character and events.