Dublin Airport Taxis

davesangel

A couple of mates have had identical issues with the official taxi drivers at Dublin airport recently and I was wondering if anyone could give some advice?

on both occasions, they arrived back in the early hours of the morning (one at 1am, one at 4am). The quickest route via taxi would have been via port tunnel and then along quays and through town OR through Drumcondra and then along Parnell to Capel St, across river, and then onwards. I've done this journey once in a taxi, and it cost 25 on the way out and 30 on the way back (but there was lots of traffic that day).

But for each of them, they were told a few mins after getting into the taxi that the port tunnel was 'closed for repairs'. They then were taken on routes that they are still unfamiliar with, but which cost nearly 50 quid each. Both of them are girls, and being on their own with nobody about by the time they finally arrived home, they were afraid to query the price.

What I want to know is, is it true that the port tunnel closes at night to traffic? If so, is there any way to find out in advance when this will happen so that a quicker route can be planned and given to the taxi driver? If it is NOT true that the port tunnel closes, how can this be communicated to the driver in a way that isn't interpreted as aggressive (I would hate to think of someone, especially a tourist, being chucked out of a taxi for questioning the driver over an unnecessarily long route and being overcharged)? And even if the port tunnel was closed, why wouldn't the driver have gone via Drumcondra which would have been way quicker and cheaper?

L1011

the Port Tunnel does close at night for maintenance relatively frequently. The overhead signs on the M1 will tell you though.

https://www.dublintunnel.ie/tunnel-closures shows future ones. Email and ask for the previous dates and complain to the NTA if the driver lied to get a higher fare.