New group aims to fast-track integrated ticketing

A HIGH-POWERED project group is expected to present their plan for the introduction of Ireland’s long-awaited integrated ticketing system in the autumn, it was learned yesterday.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen, who says he is anxious to move the €30 million project forward as quickly as possible, has asked the new body to set a realistic timetable for the system’s implementation.

The group has also been asked to advise how the project can be achieved as quickly as possible and without the kind of complications that cropped up in a previous attempt to move it forward.

Integrated ticketing was first proposed in 2001 but after years of planning and with €9.5 million spent it has ended up behind schedule and with no immediate prospect of launch.

Earlier this year it was revealed that the project had become bogged down as a result of a row on the issue between some State agencies, including CIE and the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA).

The new body established last weekend is made up of transport chief executives and Government officials. It is chaired by David O’Callaghan, former secretary-general of the Department of Defence.

The new project team will include the chief executives of the RPA, Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann. An assistant secretary from the Department of Transport and a private transport representative will also be represented.

The Department of Social Welfare will work closely with the group because of the number of social welfare recipients who are entitled to free travel.