Increased Public Transport Fares From Saturday

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has approved plans to increase public transport fares.

The fare increases will range from between 1% and 28%, with some coming into effect from this Saturday (1 November).

Yesterday, the National Transport Authority agreed its pricing structure for 2015, and announced that monthly and annual tickets will be affected, as will cash fares, Leap Card fares and pre-paid tickets.

For customers using Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and the Luas, the price increase for a monthly and annual ticket fare will occur from 1 November. A price rise to cash fares will take effect from 1 December.

Some examples of the price changes include Irish Rail increasing its DART fares by an average of 9%, while Bus Éireann will increase prices by an average of 3.5%.

For Dublin Bus, a number of price rises of up to 10% will be introduced to create an extra €4.5m in revenue. For example, a current €1.80 trip will rise to €1.95; a €2.35 ticket will be €2.55 and the €2.60 ticket to €2.80.

A €3.05 journey on Dublin Bus will now cost customers €3.30.

Bus Éireann will increase its regional city commuter fares up by as much as 9%, with a 5% increase on other local journeys; while for those using the Luas, some prices will surge by up to 11%, it has been reported.

In a statement, Gerry Murphy, CEO of the National Transport Authority, referred to the Leap Card, encouraging more people to use the service. He added that the simplification of transport fares, as well as increased savings for using the card are beneficial for customers as Leap Card holders enjoy "considerably" lower fares than those who pay with cash.

For 2015, Leap daily and weekly caps will remain unchanged, while for Dublin Bus customers, the eight adult cash fares and eight Leap fares will be reduced to five adult cash fares and four different Leap fares.

Mr Murphy continued: "With over 750,000 Leap Cards now in circulation and almost €2 million per week used in travel credit, the Leap Card has clearly been welcomed by the travelling public – both for the convenience and for the value it offers.

"In fact, even with the fares increases announced today – a Leap Card fare in 2015 will nearly always be the same as or lower than a cash fare was in 2012."

(JP/IT)