NTA releases fares plan

Most of the discounted Leap fares introduced two years ago, including the €2 TFI 90-minute fare in Dublin, are to remain in place, according to the National Transport Authority (NTA) Fares Determination for Public Service Obligation (PSO) services in the Greater Dublin Area, published today.

The TFI-90 €2 fare, which allows passengers free transfer between Dublin Bus, Luas and most DART, commuter rail and Go-Ahead Ireland services in Dublin, has been a huge success and has contributed to the increase in passenger numbers recorded across the city’s network last year.

The new fares announced today are based on NTA’s fares strategy published last year. Under that strategy, fares are to be determined on a more equitable and easy-to-understand basis.

The cost per kilometer travelled is to be consistent, and will be related to the straight line distance between the origin and destination of journey.

The NTA’s Fares Determination being published today focuses primarily on Dublin city and surrounding commuter counties, as a first step.

Last year’s strategy also announced that a Dublin City Zone and a Dublin Commuter Zone were to be introduced.

The Dublin City Zone is to extend approximately 23km from the city, and broadly equates to the existing 90-minute fare zone.

The Dublin Commuter Zone extending to approximately 50km from Dublin city centre will include towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones and Wicklow.

Also announced today is a new all-modes ticket to be introduced this year, offering full access to Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas and Irish Rail services in the Dublin City Zone.

The ticket is to cost €96 monthly or €960 annually, representing a saving of 38% compared to the existing equivalent of €155 and €1550.

Additional savings can be made by customers availing of the product via Taxsaver.

Similarly, a weekly Leap cap covering services provided by all operators in the City Zone will be €24, compared to the current equivalent of €32.

For frequent travellers in the Dublin Commuter Zone the weekly and monthly ticket costs will vary according to the distance travelled.

As an interim measure, commuters in towns just outside the Dublin City Zone travelling into the city, like Skerries, Balbriggan or Greystones, can continue to use the existing €32 weekly Leap ticket (€16 for young adults and children), so that they will see little or no difference in what they are paying now

Standard bus fares in the cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford will remain at the discounted rate of €1.35 under this Determination.

These changes are not projected to increase overall fare revenue, but represent a rebalancing of fares so that they are fairer and more consistent across the board.

As such, fares for some journeys will go up a little, while fares for others will go down.

Most customers covered by the Fares Determination published today will see no change whatsoever. Of the remainder, some will see a modest fare increase and some will see a fare reduction.