The question has been asked many times. Why can’t people in Ireland use their bank cards to tap and pay on buses and trains similar to systems in operation in other cities?
A fortnight ago the Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said work on such a contactless payment system was under way, although it will be another two years or so before it comes into operation.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) introduced of contactless fare payments in December on TFI local link Tipperary services, following a pilot scheme in Cavan and Monaghan in 2023.
But in the background there are concerns about costs and whether the initiative can be rolled out nationally on schedule, particularly given the history of some other IT projects. A new train control centre at Heuston Station, for example, is now expected to overrun its original cost by more than €40 million and be delivered in full about two years late in 2028, largely due to delays in associated IT systems.
READ MORE
The projected costs involved in delivering the new contactless payment system to facilitate buying tickets for buses, trains and the Luas are very large.
Dublin Fingal Fine Gael TD Grace Boland told the Dáil Public Accounts Committee in January that the new system would cost €220 million at a minimum.
Figures for various IT projects provided to the committee by the Department of Transport show that the estimates for the contactless system – known as next-generation ticketing – range from €228 million to €269 million.
The National Transport Authority argued that the technology required to underpin a new contactless system was complex.
However, committee members asked why a system that operated already in other countries could not quickly be replicated in Ireland.
Joe Neville of Fine Gael asked at the Public Accounts Committee: “Why at this stage can we not use a bank card like people do on the London Underground and many other underground train services? Is the technology not there to roll it out?”
Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said surely an app could be built within six or eight months. He said every phone in the country already had radio frequency identification and near-field communications technology installed on them.
However, chief executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Shaw said in addition to putting in place contactless machines at stops, at station gates and on buses, the National Transport Authority also needed to make sure that the back-office technology worked.
“We will be taking money directly out of people’s bank accounts and we need to be able to work appropriately. People will also transfer from one mode to the other so they need to be charged the best value price per day, week, month, etc.”
The National Transport Authority said in answer to parliamentary questions tabled last year that the new system would involve providing the entire State-subsidised public transport network with new validation equipment capable of accepting bank cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, QR codes (both paper and app-based), TFI Leap Cards and free travel passes.
It said in the Greater Dublin Area more than 3,000 new validators would be installed across 69 Luas stops, 67 existing (and two new) Irish Rail stations, 10 bus depots and more than 1,300 buses.
“The new equipment must integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure, whilst ensuring no disruption to ongoing public transport services and no interruptions to Transport for Ireland Leap Card and Free Travel pass customers. Whilst there will be several installation teams working across the multiple bus depots, buses can only be worked on when they are not in use, ie primarily at nights and at weekends, which creates a constraint on the maximum number of buses that can be updated in any one day and thus directly impacting the timelines for the project.”
“In parallel installations will be occurring at Irish Rail station and Luas stops; with Irish Rail stations there is the added complexity of installing new rail gates in stations without creating safety issues for customers accessing the stations.
Implementing such a complex system across multiple transport operators concurrently requires significant co-ordination. The project involves ensuring all payment processes adhere to the highest security standards to protect customers bank card data.
“Comprehensive cybersecurity verification and testing will also be conducted to safeguard the system from potential threats and to ensure customers are correctly charged. In addition, the operation of the new account-based ticketing system will involve the introduction of new financial management processes, customer support systems for public transport customers, and the establishment of maintenance, logistics and operational teams. All this has to occur whilst the current services are continuing to be operated.”
