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Coras Iompair Eireann 1945 to 1950

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On its formation in January 1945, CIE inherited a very mixed fleet of buses from its two constituent companies. The Dublin United Transport segment contained 45 AEC Regal 4s from the early and mid 1930s, 99 Leyland Lions of the LT5A and LT7 varieties, and 246 R class Titans built from 1937 onwards. All of these were diesel powered and registered in Dublin. The Great Southern Railways supplied four AEC Regal Is, seven Leyland Cubs, 111 Lions (LT4, LT5A, LT6, LT7, LT9), 149 Leyland Tigers (TS2, TS6, TS7, TS8, TS11), and 34 Leyland Titans. These followed the GSR policy of being registered in each county where the company operated, and only the newer vehicles were diesels, the GSR preferring petrol-engined buses for many years.

This collection of 688 vehicles was supplemented by a further 15 TS11 chassis, which had been delivered to the GSR in 1942, but were not bodied until 1947, becoming CIE’s first new buses. The new company also had responsibility for the last surviving Dublin trams, as well as the rail network of the former GSR. Among the plans laid down were the replacement of the older buses in the fleet, ousting of the last Dublin trams, and a programme of dieselisation of the railways was also begun. Initial bus purchases were of six Daimlers and 11 AEC Regents, and in 1947, they signed a 25-year agreement with Leyland Motors for the supply of bus chassis, and also took delivery of seven diesel locomotives.

30 Leyland OPS3/1 Tigers entered service in 1948, and these were to be followed over the next five years by 331 more Tigers. The first batches of Tigers all featured forward entrances. 150 Leyland bodied Titans were also bought and with these in service, the last Dublin tram ran in July 1949. As the P class Tigers entered service, the first withdrawals began of the older ex GSR vehicles, subsequently followed by the ex DUTC single deckers. By the beginning of 1955, virtually all that remained of the opening fleet of ten years earlier were the double deckers, the exception being Tigers T6 – T8.

As with other lists, the data is not complete. Any updates or corrections would be welcome, especially corrected dates for the disposal of R488. Some of the front entrance P class buses were rebuilt as rear entrance, possibly around 50 vehicles, and information on which ones were changed is also required.

Photos relating to the vehicles on this page can be viewed at these links:

CIE Titan photos.

CIE Tiger, Regent and Regal photos.

Further contributions are of course welcome, as are any corrections to the data below.

1945

Ex Dublin United Transport Company:

Ex Great Southern Railways:

1946

1947

NB: AR4/8/9 were reseated to H33/27R at their first overhaul after 1957.

1948

NB: R291-371/73/83 were reseated to H33/27R at their first overhaul after 1957.

1949

NB: R372/74-82/84-440 were reseated to H33/27R, and R441/45-51 were reseated to H37/31R at their first overhaul after 1957.

1950

P161 – 70 were named as follows, after Irish rivers:

P161 Liffey P162 Suir P163 Corrib
P164 Lee P165 Shannon P166 Slaney
P167 Moy P168 Barrow P169 Blackwater
P170 Nore        

NB: R442-44/52-90 were reseated to H37/31R at their first overhaul after 1957, and P161 – 70 were rebuilt to FB39R in 1956

Total fleet = 1149 (391 ex Dublin United; 305 ex Great Southern Railway; 452 new vehicles and 1 demonstrator) with 7 survivors (P23, P164, R1, R389, T11, T14 and T22)

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