20% cut to fares for all public transport operators from April

I suppose it is kinda good news. But to be honest, sweet feck all use to large numbers of people living in rural Ireland. Because basically there is no public transport.

It's a curious solution - the people most affected by rising petrol & diesel costs are the ones who are ignored. That said, you have to be resigned to the fact that it just costs more & more every time you fill up now - but what is galling is to hear politicians wringing their hands whilst Revenue creams in substantial duties and VAT on said fuels, never mind carbon taxes...

I suspect rural TDs will be getting their ears burnt.

Is this all public transport?

Inter-city buses and trains, etc?

PSO... Ryanair Kerry to Dublin or Donegal to Dublin? Wonder if they thought about that one!!

Cant afford a home in the city centre so I have to look at commuting satellite towns outside of Dublin which means I can only commute by car unless I spend 3.5hrs per day on a bus. Cant do that though due to child care facilities opening/closing hours.

Theyre not building much property in the cities anymore (that isnt build to let or social housing) because everyone is objecting to major schemes.

Its just all broken!

Does this buy them time to have another look at trying to introduce a more flexible ticket for those who are working in the office one or two days a week?

Its a strange strategy. Climate and cost of living crises. Let's make people go back to commuting daily..

I don’t see a 25% fare increase for anyone making short journeys under 3km being even remotely politically acceptable.

I'm getting the bus in and out of work at the moment. I usually get the 101X in the morning and the 100X on the way home. The PSO 101X is currently €6.30 from Drogheda so this would drop it to about €5. The Expressway 100X is €9.50. At that price difference, I'd be tempted to just let it pass and get the next 101X on the way back!

I'd say private bus operators are in a huff about this. Particularly ones on similar routes to BÉ. They would have grounds to sue the government for unfair competition subsidies, no?

Ya but it doesn't make this wrong. It wasn't a one or the other choice where it was this or help the rural people they could have done both.

You surely should be angry that the government didn't help rural drivers rather than vent your anger at this which will help many people.

Who says I'm angry.

Im just pointing out the facts

Sorry fair enough I took you up wrong.

An example is Galway City where City Direct directly compete with Bus Eireann on three city routes. They both use the Leap Card system. Or Galway commuter towns where Burkes compete with Bus Eireann. Or Kilkenny City routes, which is privately run on behalf of the NTA. All seem to be excluded from this initiative.

It would be viewed as state subsidies being provided against private competitors

The Kilkenny City routes are PSO services and will be therefore covered by the fare reduction. It doesn’t matter who operates them - the State is paying for them.

Burkes have very limited competition from Bus Eireann PSO services.

The 52 and 64 are both commercial Expressway routes so are not covered by this announcement.

The 429 and 456 are PSO but the 429 is one departure per day and the 456 has five. Not exactly massive competition to Burkes.

While City Direct cover Cappagh Road, Western Distributor Road, and Clybaun Road pretty much by themselves, they do also attempt to compete on the Salthill corridor, and the 411/412 routing as far as the Bishop O'Donnell Road x Rahoon Road junction is a carbon copy of the 405. In saying that, City Direct is 52 cent dearer than BE on a Leap Card Adult Single already (€1.68 vs €2.20), so I think it's just those determined on time that bother getting City Direct when they can get the Bus Eireann service - and this shows particularly on outbound services where very few get off a 411 service before its unique section on Rahoon Road (then again it helps that the 405 and City Direct Eyre Square stops are separate).

Well, the difference is going to sting even further, as a 20% discount on €1.68 brings it down to €1.34 or €1.35 - a full 85-86c cheaper. I know I'm not a happy camper here (City Direct is the only operator I have within less than 20 minutes' walking distance).

City Direct in Kilkenny however is a PSO service contracted like Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, or Go-Ahead, as another poster has mentioned, so one should fully expect them to be covered by the 20% drop.

Well Burkes is a commercial service.

Burkes spotted an opportunity for a commercial bus service where the State wasn’t providing one and operate a decent frequency service with no subsidy.

Are you suggesting that the State should subsidise every single commercial operator and thereby effectively take over all transport?

Where do you draw the line with an argument like that? The government can only control fares on services that it pays for.

What date in April does this begin. I've been checking Galway-Dublin trains for the 5th April but no changes in prices yet, same as when I checked last week.