CIE fares hike hinges on progress in talks on change in transport system

THE reply to CIE's request for fare increases will depend on progress in negotiations for change in the national transport system, Transport Minister Séamus Brennan said last night.

Mr Brennan said taxpayers cannot be expected to continue giving CIE almost 5m per day, and the push to liberalise transport services must continue. He said the Government was disappointed with the losses revealed in the firm's annual report, but he also stressed the company had achieved record passenger levels and had some excellent staff.

However, the minister added that he wanted to give an added impetus to liberalising the market as well as separating the railway company, Iarnród Éireann, and giving it more autonomy. "I'm not interested in talking about fare increases unless I get some serious discussions about where we're going," Mr Brennan said. It was revealed yesterday that gridlock is costing CIE an estimated 47 million euro a year. The company made the claim as it defended its request for increased fares of up to 20%, which would help offset the cost of providing new bus crews for peak-time travel.