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Sam Boal

'Strong growth' for public transport sector as passenger numbers increased 9% last year

Passenger figures across the rail, bus and tram network in Ireland increase last year.

THERE HAS BEEN a 9% increase in the number of passenger journeys taken on public transport in the past 12 months, according to the latest figures from the National Transport Authority. 

Some 290 million passenger journeys were recorded on Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Iarnróid Éireann, Luas and Go-Ahead Ireland services in 2019 – an increase of 24 million journeys compared to 2018. 

The figures represent seven years of increasing passenger numbers, with the percentage increase in 2019 by far the largest since the inception of the National Transport Authority (NTA).

The NTA said the latest increase was a reflection on the increased investment in public transport in recent years. 

Bus Éireann, which restructured and removed some routes over the past decade, in a bid to return to profit, saw an increase of 14% last year. The company attracted 40.4 million passengers in 2019.

City services for the company rose by 14% overall, jumping to a 30% increase on services in Waterford City.

Passenger numbers on bus services in the Dublin metropolitan area increased by 7.5% in 2019.

Public Service Obligation services in the Dublin area are provided by Dublin Bus, and by Go-Ahead Ireland, and combined numbers across both companies have gone from 141 million in 2018 to 151 million last year.

Dublin Bus, which has been undergoing a review in the form of the BusConnect upgrade, provided 138 million passenger journeys last year. 

It also introduced the first 24 hour routes in the city, carrying tourists from Dublin Airport to the city centre around the clock. 

014 DART Peaktime (1) RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Trains

Dart, Commuter, and Inter city services at Iarnróid Éireann have all increased in the past 12 months. 

In 2019, overall passenger numbers reached 50 million for the first time in company’s history, representing an increase of 4.3% on the previous year.

The rail network has been subject to criticism over the levels of anti-social behavior on the lines in recent months. It also faced a public backlash after asking commuters to take earlier trains to avoid overcrowding on carriages during peak times. 

The NTA said Iarnróid Éireann has seen increased demand across the network and that rail capacity will increase in the coming years. 

Some 41 new railcars for commuter routes are set to arrive from late 2021 while the purchase of 600 new electric carriages is currently out to tender, and a contract is expected to be awarded this year.

0186 Dublin scenes (1) Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

Luas

The Luas has also been at the centre of criticism in 2019 but continued to see an increase in the number of passengers using the service. 

A number of complaints were submitted to Transport Infrastructure Ireland over the actions of Luas security staff, while complaints were also submitted over the level of anti-social behavior. 

In spite of this, passenger journeys rose by 15% to over 48 million in 2019. The NTA pointed to the increase as a knock-on effect of the first full-year benefit of the capacity enhancement of the Green Line, which involved a total of seven new 55m trams being brought into service in 2018.

Speaking of the increases across the public service network last year, CEO of the NTA, Anne Graham said the figures reflect the “quality of services” provided by operators. 

“There is no doubt that when there is a reliable, high quality, value-for-money public transport offering that customers will respond positively to it,” she said. 

“But people are also looking to the future of the planet, and they know that by choosing to use public transport, they are behaving in a way that will reduce emissions, improve air quality and protect their local environment.

“None of us can rest on our laurels, and the priority now must be to deliver on those improvements in our public transport infrastructure that are provided for under the Climate Action Plan and Project Ireland 2040.”

She added: “ That is why it is so important for the NTA to continue to invest in projects such as MetroLink and BusConnect that will provide a better public transport offering into the future.”

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31 Comments
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    Mute john
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:47 PM

    9% increase in overcrowding!!

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    Mute Whoswho
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:58 PM

    @john: There only seeing increase in demand for new journeys on trains because the first thing the TFI did when they took over was to reduce the frequency of trains and increased the prices! And the Busconnects plan is a disgrace – robbing elderly peoples front gardens! Only in a FFG government

    72
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    Mute Michael Kavanagh
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:02 PM

    @Whoswho:
    Doubt if they are all elderly – and if they are shure they have the ‘Pass’ anyway!

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    Mute Conall
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:06 AM

    @Whoswho: The frequency of trains on the Sligo-Dublin line is greater that it was a few years ago. In 1990 a monthly return ticket was £18 or €23. At 3% inflation a year (which is probably below the real value) over the last 29 years comes to €53.87. The current monthly return price is €54.40 so yes, prices have increased, by 1% (on this line, anyway).

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    Mute Mjhint
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:36 AM

    @Conall: the price of transport across the world has fallen steadily for the last 40 years that includes road rail sea and air. Your 1% admittedly with inflation taken into account is way above what it should be. Was in Berlin last year & was stunned how cheap trains were & in Paris in October with my 4 kids again surprisingly not very expensive & these are standard wise in a different league to Ireland. Also if the government wish to be serious about public transport they need to incentivise it. If someone is on the dole & need to go to Dublin do you think €55 Is not too expensive. It’s not a business it’s a public service & like most countries it’s subsidised.

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    Mute Whoswho
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    Jan 9th 2020, 7:48 AM

    @Michael Kavanagh: If there was only 1 Elderly persons front garden being robbed, then it’s 1 too many! Yes, they have free travel. It’s the least they deserve

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    Mute Ashley Rowland
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:44 PM

    Anyone who depends on Bus Eireann to get to work, especially anywhere to and from Dublin my heart goes out to you. Absolute horrific they are. Show up whenever it suits them and their complaints department is the same as sending a message into outer space…. Irish rail aren’t much better and trains are desperately crammed but they do get you more consistently in and out of Dublin with less hassle than driving but need proper funding from our government to improve the rail network.

    142
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    Mute Mark V
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:49 PM

    @Ashley Rowland: it’s time for the government to invest heavily in public transport.

    115
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    Mute Tim Pot
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:20 PM

    @Mark V:

    Close to 30 billion over the last 3 decades spent on the motorway network, in the same time we built one ‘new’ rail line which terminates in a car park along the m3 motorway.

    We could only afford 100 million to invest in the rail line between galway and limerick which now provides a speedy 3 hour journey, whereas we had no qualms spending 1 billion on new roads between the same cities allowing a ~1hr journey.

    We get what we pay for.

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    Mute Trevor
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:10 AM

    @Tim Pot: only had to put 23 million into the Wrc as the rest was paid for by EU. The Tuam motorway 1.3 billion we the taxpayer will have to pay every cent. The train journey is as you say long but two hours not three

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    Mute Niall Farrell
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    Jan 9th 2020, 1:13 PM

    @Tim Pot: you know why this is? Because every minister in the country gets driven around in private cars. I’d be amazed if any of them got the train or bus to work. Only they know all too well how bad the traffic is around the country. You’d wonder if fob in times in Leinster House improve as the roads get better haha.

    And another thing this article fails to mention is the fact that thousands more homes have been built along the train lines. They say people take public transport cause it’s affordable and environmentally friendly, but it fails to mention that the roads are chockablock every morning and that congestion levels are just getting worse. People are left with no choice. It’s obvious massive investment is needed in heavy rail but does anyone have any confidence in Shane Ross?

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    Mute David Lafferty FCCA
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:52 PM

    Need to reduce the fares for all buses and trains to encourage more people to use, allow self employed to expense annual and monthly tickets like the PAYE workers, provide more carriages on all rush hour trains

    67
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    Mute Ashley Rowland
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    Jan 8th 2020, 9:57 PM

    @David Lafferty FCCA: maybe also allow employees claim back their vat on all work related expenses the same as self employed people get.

    68
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    Mute AJ Con
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:17 PM

    Western rail corridor Please.
    Cork-Derry line pease

    41
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    Mute ChristyDub
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    Jan 8th 2020, 11:13 PM

    And GoAhead services are brutal

    25
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    Mute James Gannon
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:42 AM

    Be great if we had a public transport service…

    14
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    Mute Robert Edwards
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:21 PM

    The drivers will be wanting another pay rise!!!!

    15
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    Mute Paul O'Brien
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:00 AM

    Busses in Limerick avoid customers.

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    Mute Lydia McLoughlin
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    Jan 9th 2020, 8:56 AM

    Heavily invest and then free or nominal charge for transport for all! Watch how ppl will get out of their cars!!

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    Mute Kelsey Doyle
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    Jan 9th 2020, 8:55 AM

    Still baffels me how we dont have an undergeound in dublin!!

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    Mute John Boylan
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    Jan 9th 2020, 1:51 AM

    Wait for the unions now…..3-2-1…..

    7
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    Mute Paul Mc
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:38 PM

    Get the pensioners and disabled people to pay for the working poor on their way to work,sure its the Fine Gael way !get up early go to work and pay for the politicians and civil servants pensions.Free passes should only be available to people who wont or cant use them.

    6
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    Mute Ashley Rowland
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    Jan 8th 2020, 10:55 PM

    @Paul Mc: why bother to get up and work.. I’m working 40 hours a week since I was 18 years old and twenty years later I’m still getting up at half six every morning and getting home at 8 in the evening. Stay on the dole, spit out a few kids and get a free house in Dublin and you get to blog about the latest fashion in Penny’s

    46
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    Mute d
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    Jan 8th 2020, 11:29 PM

    @Ashley Rowland: my heart bleeds…ya don’t look to far from eighteen….but try doing it from 9…. Then I may respect you some more

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    Mute SC
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    Jan 8th 2020, 11:43 PM

    @Ashley Rowland: why not get an apartment near work instead of a house far away? Commuting isn’t worth it.

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    Mute Conall
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:10 AM

    @Ashley Rowland: I’m presuming being employed, apart from the opportunity of earning more money, is more fulfilling than being on the dole.

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    Mute Conall
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:14 AM

    @SC: Commuting sounds like hell to me. Over my entire career, a number of jobs, different houses and different towns, I’ve managed to live within a 20 min cycle to work.

    7
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    Mute Vin
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    Jan 9th 2020, 12:29 AM

    @Conall: and have you had to move home in the last 2 years? Likely not. So best not to lecture someone on here on something you have no experience in.

    Right place at the right time does not a high horse make.

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    Mute D
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    Jan 9th 2020, 7:33 AM

    Someone collapsed on the M3 parkway to Docklands train yesterday morning. People struggled to move and make enough room for them to be laid down. Happened only 4-5 feet from where I was standing and I couldn’t see them at all we were that squashed in.

    5
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    Mute Andrew O Grady
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    Jan 9th 2020, 8:15 AM

    The plans by the so called government to charge cars going into city , to force people onto public transport cant work imagen try getting onto a bus or a train or dart already these services are overcrowded mon to fri at peak times !

    4
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    Mute Marianne
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    Jan 9th 2020, 11:09 AM

    I was travelling 9n the 205 in cork yesterday when an automated announcement said …can passengers plz use the seat belts provided for their own safety and the safety of out her passengers…..However there are no seat belts…even though it’s a European rule

    1
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