Some Intercity rail fares to increase from today

Iarnród Éireann has said that fares on Intercity routes to Sligo, Westport, Galway, Waterford and Rosslare are increasing as part of the first phase of fare changes across the public transport network.

The new fare structure determined by the National Transport Authority will also see fares for short trips on Dublin Bus, Luas and DART services increase from €1.30 to €1.50 for leap card users and €1.50 to €2 for cash fares.

However, Corporate Communications Manager with Iarnród Éireann Barry Kenny said most of the journeys made by DART passengers are longer and would not be affected by that fare increase.

The longest DART journey that can be made on the short trip tariff is from Connolly Station to Sandymount.

Mr Kenny told RTÉ News that on the affected Intercity routes “the fare increases by an average of about 4%”.

“It is the first increase on any intercity route in over five years and of course, just two years ago we saw a reduction across the board of 20% in our fares, so even with these increases the vast majority of customers are still paying less than they would have ten years ago.”

He said passenger numbers are continuing to rise on Irish Rail services and “we’re expecting to have a record high of passenger numbers across the network”.

“Already our intercity network is exceeding pre-Covid levels and DART and Commuter is catching up with that very, very quickly. Thankfully, we’re in a position to introduce new services later in the year, in August, and also increase capacity with 41 new carriages coming into service,” he added.

Meanwhile, a new flat fare of €1.50 has been introduced for Leap Card users on regional town services in Athlone, Balbriggan, Carlow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Navan and Sligo.