Public transport fares, including Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Luas and Irish Rail, are set to increase from next weekend, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced today.
Dublin Bus fares are scheduled to increase by over 7 per cent, while Luas fares will rise by more than 6 per cent when the latest fare hikes are introduced on November 1st.
The standard Dublin Bus Stage 1-3 adult cash single fare of €1.80 will increase to €1.95, while the Stage 4-7 fare will rise from €2.35-2.55. The Stage 8-13 fare will rise from €2.60-€2.80.
Meanwhile, the Leap Card Dublin Bus adult single fare will increase from €1.45-€1.50 for Stage 1-3 passengers and from €1.95-€2.05 for Stage 4-7 passengers. However, the Leap Card fare for Stages 8-13 is set to decrease from €2.15-€2.05.
Adult Dublin Bus travelwide monthly tickets will increase 7.32 per cent from €123 to €132. The price of Dublin Bus annual tickets will also rise from €1,230 to €1,320.
Dublin Bus acknowledged the “substantial” increases in cash fares since 2012, but said the authority had improved customer value and savings through the increased use of the Leap card.
Dublin Bus announced plans to introduce a second journey discount on Leap card fares from November 2nd which will allow Dublin Bus customers to make a second journey within 90 minutes of starting the first journey at a discount of €1.
Luas fares increase
Luas fares are also set to increase with the November price hike. The Adult 3 Zones monthly ticket will rise from €80 to €85, while the Adult 3 Zones annual ticket will increased from €800 to €850.
There will be no increase to Luas All Zones monthly and annual fares.
The NTA said it plans to phase out the current 3 Zones monthly and annual tickets over the next two years and consolidate fares towards a single monthly and annual ticket.
Irish Rail fares
Irish Rail users will also notice an increase in fares next week.
The Irish Rail Short Hop Zone & Dublin Bus will increase over 9 per cent, with monthly tickets rising from €156-€171. The Student Short Hop (Dublin Bus & Irish Rail) monthly ticket will rise by 5.88 per cent from €119-126.
Meanwhile, the Irish Rail Short Hop Zone (Dublin Bus ajd Luas) ticket will decrease by 4.59 per cent, bringing the current monthly fare of €218 down to €208.
Bus Eireann increases
Bus Éireann fares are also set to rise by an average of 5 per cent from November 1st.
Gerry Murphy, chief executive of the NTA, welcomed the growing popularity of the Leap Card, saying 50 per cent of spending on public transport in Dublin now goes through the leap card system.
Cash Fares
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Mr Murphy said transport cash fares had increased but said the growing use of Leap Cards would allow bus services to collect fares in a “more efficient way”, helping reduce journey times and increase services.
He said the various transport bodies had actually sought a greater increase in fares, but that the NTA settled on prices 1-3 per cent below the original operator requests.
Mr Murphy added journey fares were nearly 20 per cent less for Leap Card users across Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus, Irish Rail and Luas services.
“This is a product that’s easily accessible and we’ve kept the deposit low,” he said, citing the €5 refundable deposit for each card.
“London has one of the best transport systems in the world and they’ve removed cash completely off buses this year,” he said. “We want to move towards that situation where we minimise cash use.”
Mr Murphy said he hoped to see Leap Cards in use on buses in Limerick and Waterford and trains in Cork and Galway by next year.
Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe criticised the announcement which made public transport “less appealing” with “no discernable increase in service”.
