TFI/NTA - what do they do anyway?

whisky_galore

As above.

Are they just more quangos, duplicate needless layers of bureaucracy?

L1011

TFI/NTA are the same body; TFI is a brand name of the NTA.

They control route design, licencing, fares, integrated ticketing, vehicle orders for much of the public transport operations in the state.

Montage of Feck

A rebrand of CIE?

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122108286#Comment_122108286

Nope, CIE still exists and are completely separate.

CIE owns Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann and Irish Rail.

NTA license and operate all public transport services in Ireland, which include the above CIE services, but also GAI services, Luas and all the private bus and coach operators.

They also license Taxi's.

They manage the fares for all PSO services and operate the Leap system. RTPI too and bus stops.

And they also have responsible for active travel, basically walking and cycling infrastructure.

But most importantly they also responsible for developing and implementing future transport strategy and services like Metrolink, DART+, BusConnnects, etc.

Testcard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058350775/tfi-nta-what-do-they-do-anyway

The NTA set the public transport strategy in the State. On the bus side they have made great strides forward in terms of integrated ticketing and route management. Where they fall down is on their fundamental lack of understanding of rail. For example their outright barmy proposals for terminating Rosslare trains outside Dublin or their push back on expanding rail capacity north of Connolly. NTA need people with rail expertise on the inside, not just to be reliant on expensive consultants.

A department of Transport with balls would instruct the NTA to sack their consultants, every one of them, and hire directly people with rail experience.

whisky_galore

They aren't called the No Trains Authority for nothing.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122116574#Comment_122116574

Errr… The idea of terminating Rosslare trains outside Dublin comes from Irish Rail, not the NTA!

The NTA rely heavily on Irish Rails input on all things heavy rail as they are the experts on that area. For instance most of the input into the All Island Rail Report came from Irish Rail with very little input from the NTA.

As for the Rosslare service, it is actually a good thing, it would lead to significant increase in frequency of service on the Rossalare line and a big increase in the number of passengers carried by rail services on this line, which in the end is the goal. To carry more people by rail.

BTW you know that the NTA operates under the Department of Transport and that the consultants they and Irish Rail use, like ARUP and Jacobs are absolutely jam packed with folks with years of rail experience!

Testcard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122118449#Comment_122118449

From my own discussions I understand the Rosslare proposals are from Hugh Creegan of the NTA and not at all from IÉ.

So the NTA consultants are “jam packed” with rail experience? Bully for them. A pity the NTA isn’t!

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122130018#Comment_122130018

LMAO, as if Irish Rail hasn’t wanted to get rid of the Rosslare service for years! After all Irish Rail operate Rosslare Europort and look what they have done with the rail services to the port!

Yes, I’ve no doubt that the NTA are driving wanting to improve the usage of this line and the number of passengers it carries. Increase the number of DARTs to Greystones from every 30 minutes to a 20 minute frequency. That is a 45% increase in capacity to Greystones!

And maybe even extend that services to Wicklow, so it has a service every 20 minutes, rather than what, a crappy 6 services a day at the moment!!

A fantastic improvement in services on the line, which would likely drive a big increase in the number of people using the line.

BTW the NTA only have statutory responsibility for the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) that includes out as far as Wicklow, beyond that they only have an advisory role and it is the responsibility of Irish Rail and the county councils.

dowlingm

I would think a goal of the NTA, if it isn’t already, should be to insource expertise which consultants are currently relied upon to provide, where it relates to projects of sizes where a pipeline of work can be anticipated. For some speciality projects there will be no getting away from using them, but consulting costs has been identified as a driver of public transport project cost inflation in various countries.

Retention of individual consultants will always be an issue while private firms have the ability to better State pay and conditions, so there would be importance in emphasizing continuity of information and policy and thus having a base to train up new blood rather than relying on individual stars putting their mark on projects which isn’t easily emulated and from which few economies of scale result.

Cookie_Monster

Why does the NTA exist outside of the DoT? Surely its the DoTs job, what exactly do they do after farming out all responsibilities for transport to various bodies? NTA, CIE, TII etc etc

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122160098#Comment_122160098

Pretty much every government department does this. For instance Department of Communications has Comreg as it's regulator.

I believe EU regulations require such independent regulator bodies in various areas. It is part of deregulation rules.

The departments in general have civil servants which aren't necessarily experts in the area (they often move between departments) and are more managers then subject experts. The regulatory bodies usually have more subject matter experts.

Bodies like the NTA are pretty much common in every EU city/country. TFL in London, VBB in Berlin, etc.

CIE is more an operator, though a semi state, you couldn't really have them doing the NTA job as it would be unfair to the other operators and likely wouldn't pass EU deregulation rules. You could think of them like Deutsche Bahn in Germany (they also operate buses and coaches and are state owned).

TII build and maintain the motorways and tram/Metro. They were formed out of combining the RPA and NRA.

All of these bodies will work closely together but in the end it is the government cabinet who set over all policy and control budgets, at least for major projects.

Also I will say the politicians in government love them, as they tend to attract some peoples anger rather then where it really belongs, the politicians themselves. In the end it isn't the NTA to decide if 40 billion gets spent on building out the AIRR, that is completely in the hands of the government cabinet.

whisky_galore

I see BE (and I think DB) buses getting TFI colours, likewise bus stops, wonder is the endgame everything including Irish Rail being plastered in TFI green and yellow?

MJohnston

Green is the TFI brand colour, and it's green for obvious reasons.

Yellow is there for accessibility reasons, as it is one of, if not THE most visible colours, especially in peripheral vision.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122170471#Comment_122170471

Just buses.

bk

Same as how all buses are red in London, that it is TFL livery.

People shouldn't need to know or care if a PSO city bus is operated by DB, GAI or BE, just that their Leap card will work and the fare is the same.