Government cannot ‘fund everything forever’: Bus and rail fare hikes of up to 35% confirmed

The Government is “not in a position to fund everything forever”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said, as bus and rail fares are to increase by 15 per cent on average, with some fares rising by more than 30 per cent.

Martin said there will have to be “sustainable funding models for a lot of State services” and it was something he thought was “fairly clear too”.

The Fianna Fáil leader was speaking after the National Transport Authority’s (NTA) chief executive Anne Shaw told a briefing it was envisaged the fare rises would take effect in January.

She said the aim was that the increased revenue generated would be used to continue growing the public transport network.

“We do need a sustainable funding programme in respect of being in a position to continue to expand services and public transport into the future,” Martin told reporters in Dublin on Thursday.

“There has already been a substantial increase in funding towards public transport over the last number of years, close to a billion now in subvention and in supports. So to expand that even further, we will require significant more funding, and this is one contributory aspect to it.”

Martin also said Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien would be coming forward at “a later date” in relation to expanding public transport services.

The NTA said earlier that the revised fares would apply to all State-subsidised routes – known as public service obligation – operated by Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail, Luas, Go Ahead Ireland and Transport For Ireland (TFI) Local Link services.

In Dublin, the TFI 90 fare, which allows unlimited travel over a period of an hour and a half, will rise by 30 cent for adults to €2.30.

Adult town fares across the country will increase by 10 per cent to €1.65.

The NTA said while adult fares overall would rise by 15 per cent on average, many child fares, particularly in regional cities and towns, would be reduced.

It said although there would be an average 15 per cent rise in bus, inter-city rail, and Local Link and regular rural services, most fares would remain below 2018 levels.

The NTA said free travel for all children up to age nine and for people over 66 would be unchanged. It said free travel for other passengers eligible under the Free Travel Scheme would also be protected.

Shaw said it was possible the price rises could impact the rising numbers of passengers using public transport experienced over recent years.

However, she said public transport continued to offer value for money.

She said the moves announced on Thursday represented the first change in the fare structure since 2018.

“This is the first general increase in public service obligation fares in eight years and is an important step in supporting continued investment in expanded services, increased capacity and enhanced connectivity across the country,” she said.

Shaw said the changes struck “a careful balance” between keeping public transport affordable and “ensuring we can continue building a larger, more accessible and better-connected network for communities across Ireland”.

Meanwhile, O’Brien said the new fare structure was necessary to support continued investment in public transport, enabling the expansion of services and the delivery of key infrastructure projects.

He argued that despite the 15 per cent average increase, “public transport fares in Ireland will remain competitive by international standards.

“I acknowledge the NTA’s decision to publish a new fares determination today. This is a crucial step to expand capacity across our public transport service,” he said.

“This expansion will enable approximately 140 new and improved services and signals one of the most ambitious in-year investments across our flagship programmes such as Connecting Ireland and BusConnects in recent years.”