The latest changes to public transport fares for monthly and annual ticket-holders have been released by the National Transport Authority (NTA) today.
The new fares will take effect from December 1 ahead of other revised cash and Leap fares to be published in March.
The NTA said that the revised fare structure in Dublin is necessary to ensure the delivery of the BusConnects programme and to “support seamless movement” between different public transport services in the city.
It said that once the new bus network is operational, monthly and annual fares in the Dublin area will become consistent across all modes of public transport.
The biggest rise in fare prices will apply to annual and monthly Luas-only tickets which will increase by more than 7% to €1,300 and €130 respectively.
Bus-only annual or monthly tickets for the Short Hop Zone, which covers routes operated by both Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland, will also increase, from €1,400 to €1,450 and €140 to €145 respectively.
Customers using a Luas/Dublin Bus/Iarnród Éireann ticket for the Short Hop Zone will see their monthly fare fall by almost 5% from €2,050 to €1,950 for an annual ticket and from €205 to €195 for monthly passengers.
Rail-only tickets for this zone will not change in price, and Irish Rail commuters travelling on monthly or annual tickets between Dublin and towns such as Enfield, Newbridge, Wicklow, Kildare, Drogheda, and Portarlington will also not experience changes to their fares.
Good news for Bus Éireann passengers
There is also good news for thousands of Bus Éireann passengers, many of whom will see a decrease in the price of their annual and monthly tickets.
Fares in Eastern Commuter areas will drop by over 4%, and passengers in towns such as Ashbourne, Kilcock, and Celbridge will see their annual fare fall from €1,548 to €1,480.
Customers in Drogheda, Trim, Newbridge, and Baltinglass will be saving over €100 a year when their annual fare drops from €2,448 to €2,340, with passengers in Dundalk, Mullingar and Arklow making a saving of €118.
Regional student bus fares will also decrease significantly in cities such as Cork, Limerick and Galway.
Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, said: “The NTA will continue to work to make fares as simple and consistent as possible. In today’s determination we have seen some fares go up slightly and some come down.
“Overall fare revenue will increase by less than 2%, which is in line with inflation, so this is certainly not a revenue-generating exercise.”
You can see the full list of new monthly and annual fares here.
