Public Transport Usage 2019 up 24 Million

Jamie2k9

https://www.nationaltransport.ie/news/massive-jump-in-passenger-journey-number-as-commuters-flock-to-public-transport/

Combined 290 million up 9%

Irish Rail 50 million up 4.17% (+2 million)
Luas 48.1 million up 15.1% (+6.3 million)

Bus Éireann 40.4 million up 13.8% (+4.9 million)
-City Services up 14% with Waterford up 30%
-GDA up 7.5%

Dublin Bus 138 million down 1.4% (-2 million)
Go-Ahead 13.9 million up (+12.5 million)

DB and G-Ahead combined 151.9 million up 7.4% (+10.5 million)

coylemj

Delighted to see the combined DB+GA volume up 7.4%, a direct result of the increased frequency on existing routes and the addition of new routes.

More of the same please.

Geuze

There is pent-up latent demand for public transport.

Decuc500

"Iarnród Éireann is continuing to benefit from economic growth and has seen demand increasing across the network. The figures reflect the first full-year benefit of the 10-minute DART services that were introduced in Sept 2018"

Who exactly is benefitting from the 10 minute DART service? There are now less carriages in rush hour due to having extra, more frequent and unnecessary DARTs running throughout the day.

Any daily DART user could tell the NTA how to improve the rush hour shambles that the last time table change brought in. Head in the sand stuff from the NTA.

Tomrota

I think that these figures reiterate the fact that if Dublin had a European-style mass transit system, people would much prefer to use it than sit on the M50 for hours.

EDIT: that is what needs to be done before we ever talk about tolling the M50 or N7 or whatever.

bk

Decuc500 wrote: »

Who exactly is benefitting from the 10 minute DART service? There are now less carriages in rush hour due to having extra, more frequent and unnecessary DARTs running throughout the day.

There is now more trains and carriages operating per hour then before and that means more capacity overall on a route.

Tomrota wrote: »

I think that these figures reiterate the fact that if Dublin had a European-style mass transit system, people would much prefer to use it than sit on the M50 for hours.

Yep, I was thinking the same. Impressive numbers for Luas, just two tram lines have almost as many passengers as the entire Irish Rail network! Imagine what Metrolink could do.

Idbatterim

If it was upgraded to metro to sandyford as per the original plans. I reckon you’d be looking athundred million a year on that line alone ...

Decuc500

bk wrote: »

There is now more trains and carriages operating per hour then before and that means more capacity overall on a route.

More trains per hour and more capacity overall on the route is at the expense of morning and evening rush hour which should be the priority. Rush hour is at breaking point due to the rigid 10 minute time table, particularly on the northside where Iarnrod Eireann think it's acceptable to run DARTs every 20 minutes north of Howth Junction.

DARTs every 10 minutes off peak are not needed. It's just spin and political point scoring. Also, with almost the whole DART fleet in operation we're seeing more breakdowns and no spare sets to replace them. This is only going to get worse until more carriages are bought which looks like 2024 at the earliest.

cdaly_

Decuc500 wrote: »

More trains per hour and more capacity overall on the route is at the expense of morning and evening rush hour which should be the priority. Rush hour is at breaking point due to the rigid 10 minute time table, particularly on the northside where Iarnrod Eireann think it's acceptable to run DARTs every 20 minutes north of Howth Junction.

They run every 10 minutes north of Howth Junction. It's just that half go northeast and half go due north.

Macy0161

Tomrota wrote: »

I think that these figures reiterate the fact that if Dublin had a European-style mass transit system, people would much prefer to use it than sit on the M50 for hours.

It also shows that people will use buses, which offer much quicker solutions than rail.

Decuc500

cdaly_ wrote: »

They run every 10 minutes north of Howth Junction. It's just that half go northeast and half go due north.

Yeah, I meant that there's a DART every 20 minutes from both destinations which means they're packed with 20 minutes worth of passengers by the time they reach Howth Junction.

bikeman1

Decuc500 wrote: »

Yeah, I meant that there's a DART every 20 minutes from both destinations which means they're packed with 20 minutes worth of passengers by the time they reach Howth Junction.

So you want a 5 minute DART fequency? Or some convoluted Howth shuttle?

The 20 minutes is here to stay. Also Portmarnock and Malahide have Commuter services, and the Howth branch doesn't require any more than the current service levels.

devnull

bikeman1 wrote: »

So you want a 5 minute DART fequency? Or some convoluted Howth shuttle?

The 20 minutes is here to stay. Also Portmarnock and Malahide have Commuter services, and the Howth branch doesn't require any more than the current service levels.

The new timetable was a revelation for me when I worked at EastPoint and living on the Malahide branch. The previous timetable which was heavily biased in favour of Howth services meant that when I was often unable to board Malahide trains at Clontarf Road. I often had to wait for 40-50 minutes for the next train due to the lack of an even split between the lines.

At one point in evening peak there was 6 Howth trains in the time there were 2 Malahide ones. The Howth trains were about 25% full after Killbarrack whereas th Malahide ones were standing room only until Clongriffin, which suggests whilst the balance may not be correct now, it wasn't then either.

There was also fare evasion at Clontarf Road on a huge scale, secrets of how to do it were openly being passed around by many people working in the business park, I felt a bit of a mug for being so honest to tell the truth.

Decuc500

bikeman1 wrote: »

So you want a 5 minute DART fequency? Or some convoluted Howth shuttle?

The 20 minutes is here to stay. Also Portmarnock and Malahide have Commuter services, and the Howth branch doesn't require any more than the current service levels.

The current service would be acceptable with all 8 carriage DARTs in operation through rush hour. I don't think that's too much to ask for, it's why the platforms were lengthened.

The current timetable cannot deliver this. A 6 car DART every 20 minutes at the busiest times is packed by Howth Junction. (Even if it comes from Howth)

L1011

devnull wrote: »

There was also fare evasion at Clontarf Road on a huge scale, secrets of how to do it were openly being passed around by many people working in the business park, I felt a bit of a mug for being so honest to tell the truth.

Beyond "the gates are normally open", I never noticed any other way around it when using it multiple times a week for East Point.

mdmix

Waterford saw a huge increase, any explanation for that? new route, increased service, better infrastructure?

devnull

mdmix wrote: »

Waterford saw a huge increase, any explanation for that? new route, increased service, better infrastructure?

New route network, new vehicles, expanded frequency, fair bit of marketing too.

AlmightyCushion

devnull wrote: »

New route network, new vehicles, expanded frequency, fair bit of marketing too.

Investing in public transport results in more people using it? That doesn't sound right.

Jamie2k9

mdmix wrote: »

Waterford saw a huge increase, any explanation for that? new route, increased service, better infrastructure?

CIE and NTA didn't believe a Sunday/ B Holiday service was needed until 2019.

lawred2

bk wrote: »

There is now more trains and carriages operating per hour then before and that means more capacity overall on a route.



Yep, I was thinking the same. Impressive numbers for Luas, just two tram lines have almost as many passengers as the entire Irish Rail network! Imagine what Metrolink could do.

overall

but what about and where when they are needed most?

lawred2

bikeman1 wrote: »

So you want a 5 minute DART fequency? Or some convoluted Howth shuttle?

The 20 minutes is here to stay. Also Portmarnock and Malahide have Commuter services, and the Howth branch doesn't require any more than the current service levels.

Portmarnock saw a reduction in the number of commuter services

bk

lawred2 wrote: »

overall

but what about and where when they are needed most?

Overall DART and IR are carrying more passengers then it ever has.

The reality is everywhere needs more services (buses, trams, darts, etc.). We of course desperately need the DART Expansion plan and more carriages and trains that come with it.

Tomrota

Macy0161 wrote: »

It also shows that people will use buses, which offer much quicker solutions than rail.

Buses alone are simply incapable of conducting mass transit of people around the city smoothly and efficiently. I mean, that is if we’re serious about getting people out of their cars like other European countries are and have been doing for decades.

Buses are great, especially when you have corridors where they don’t interact with traffic like in other European cities. They work great only in conjunction with other forms of transport- multiple tram and metro lines.

Colonel Claptrap

lawred2 wrote: »

Portmarnock saw a reduction in the number of commuter services

On top of a large increase in passenger numbers. 4 new housing estates next to the station...

cdaly_

Tomrota wrote: »

Buses alone are simply incapable of conducting mass transit of people around the city smoothly and efficiently. I mean, that is if we’re serious about getting people out of their cars like other European countries are and have been doing for decades.

This is true while they have to fight for space with private cars. Remove the private cars (and taxis) from the city centre, enforce the dedicated bus lanes and you would move people far more efficiently and smoothly than at present.

Trains and trams work efficiently where they don't have to fight for space. Mix them up with private cars and you get the same mess as with buses.

MrAbyss

Incredible to think that two Luas lines carry nearly as many people as the entire IE network!

MrAbyss

Macy0161 wrote: »

It also shows that people will use buses, which offer much quicker solutions than rail.

what a bizarre statement! they use the buses because they do not have access to rail! Since when is rail an option in Swords, Naas and Rathfarham or the Airport?

bk

MrAbyss wrote: »

what a bizarre statement! they use the buses because they do not have access to rail! Since when is rail an option in Swords, Naas and Rathfarham or the Airport?

Only if the rail is actually faster and not too much more expensive. For instance I always take the coach from Dublin to Cork over rail as it is much cheaper and just as fast. I have friends in Balbriggan who started taking the bus after the bridge collapsed and actually found it faster and never went back.

Obviously these are unusual examples, but the point is most people don't actually care too much about rail versus bus, etc. They just want to take the option between A and B that is the best combination of speed, convenience, reliability and cost for them.

Zebra3

bk wrote: »

Only if the rail is actually faster and not too much more expensive. For instance I always take the Coach from Dublin to Cork over rail as it is much cheaper and just as fast. I have friends in Balbriggan who started taking the bus after the bridge collapsed and actually found it faster and never went back.

Obviously these are unusual examples, but the point is most people don't actually care too much about rail versus bus, etc. They just want to take the option between A and B that is the best combination of speed, convenience, reliability and cost for them.

Ditto myself with Dublin to Belfast.

donvito99

MrAbyss wrote: »

what a bizarre statement! they use the buses because they do not have access to rail! Since when is rail an option in Swords, Naas and Rathfarham or the Airport?

They use the bus because it is useful. If Swords had a useless train people will still use the bus.

If you're right then 46as leave Dun Laoghaire empty and nobody gets the 11 to Sandyford.