Many public transport users face significant fare hikes under a National Transport Authority reorganisation of fares.
Within the Dublin area “short hop zones”, some rail fares will rise sharply, including the Leixlip to city centre fare which will increase by up to 18 per cent.
Meanwhile, the cost of an annual adult Luas all-zones ticket, currently €910, will rise to €1,000, before the permitted tax deductions are made. This is a 9.9 per cent rise, far higher than the 3.3 per cent requested.
Currently, a monthly Luas ticket costs €91. A rise to €94 had been requested. However, the NTA approved a rise to €100 per month.
However, it’s not all bad news for commuters, as some will see reductions by as much as 50 per cent in their fares.
Among the winners are residents of Co Kildare, where Sallins and Kilcock stations have been brought into Iarnród Éireann’s Dublin area “short hop zone”. The large savings will also be available to residents of Naas, which is also served by Sallins station.
Outside Dublin, intercity rail tax saver fares will rise by 4 per cent, Cork commuter rail fares will rise by up to 2 per cent, and intercity adult and child weekly tickets will rise by 2 per cent.
Intercity tickets
In many cases, the intercity rail increases actually exceed those requested by Iarnród Éireann – which, in the case of intercity annual tickets for example, tended to be about 2 per cent. The authority set no fare increase on any single or return intercity fares in 2017.
Bus fares outside Dublin will rise by 10 cent for adults and five cent for children when paying by cash on Bus Éireann services. There will, however, be no increase in Leap card fares. One-day, seven-day, monthly and annual bus fares will be adjusted to reflect distance travelled, with some dropping by as much as 5.9 per cent as others rise by up to 2.8 per cent.
Dublin Bus annual tax-saver cards – for journeys on Dublin Bus only – will not change. Dublin Bus monthly and annual tickets – for complex journeys involving other providers such as Luas or Dart – will rise by up to 2.3 per cent.
Tax saver tickets for Bus Éireann vary, with some distances dropping in cost by as much as 5.8 per cent while others rise by up to 2.8 per cent. Iarnród Éireann annual and monthly tickets will rise by 2 per cent, while under the rationalisation of Luas zones, notably merging zones three and four, some student pre-paid Leap cards will actually drop by 3.8 per cent while some zones will rise by 5.9 per cent.
Dublin Bus
* Pre-paid Rambler tickets rise by up to 2.9 per cent
* Adult cash fares and Leap card fares will see no change
* Schoolchild Leap bus fares will rise by 2 per cent on Irish Rail
Iarnród Éireann
* Dublin short hop zone and intercity fares to increase by 4 per cent
* Cork commuter fares up by up to 2 per cent
* Change to the distance-based fares, pulling in towns to the short hop zone around Dublin, but increasing some fares within that zone
Bus Éireann
* Cash fares up 10 cent for adults, five cent for children
* Daily, seven-day, monthly and annual tickets vary from a drop of 5.9 per cent to a rise of 2.8 per cent
* No increase in child or student returns
Luas
* Merge zones three and four resulting in fare changes from minus 4.2 per cent to plus 7.4 per cent
* 10 to 20 cent increase in adult single journey cash fares
* Adult prepaid daily, seven-day and 30-day adjusted from minus 4.2 per cent to plus 6.3 per cent The fares will apply from January.
The NTA said the aims of the reorganisation were to better link the distance travelled to the fare price and to offer reductions to children and students.
