The ‘90-minute fare’ for public transport in Dublin is to remain in place, the National Transport Authority has said.

First introduced in 2022, the flat fare has been deemed a huge success and contributed to the record increase in passenger numbers last year.

It means Leap Card users can travel around Dublin for 90 minutes for €2 for adults, €1 for young adults or students and 65c for children.

The NTA also announced some changes to the zones around Dublin city and surrounding commuter counties.

The Dublin City Zone is to be extended by 23km and will broadly match the existing 90-minute fare zone.

The 90-minute fare zone in Dublin city. Image: NTA

The Dublin Commuter Zone will also become larger and will now include towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones and Wicklow.

The weekly Leap cap covering services provided by all operators in the City Zone will also be reduced to €24 from €32.

'All-modes tickets'

The NTA said some fare changes have been made to make them "more equitable and easy-to-understand".

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

New all-modes tickets to be introduced this year will offer 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 a year, which the NTA said represents a saving of 38% compared to the existing equivalent of €155 and €1,550.

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," the NTA said.

An example of the new fare structures. Source: NTA

The NTA said while these changes are not projected to increase overall fare revenue, they 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," it added.

The new fares will come into effect later this year.

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

Main image: A Leap Card being held against a validator. Image: leapcard.ie