290m passenger journeys on Irish public transport in 2019; 24m more than year previous

Some 290 million passenger journeys were taken on public transport last year, an increase of 24 million from 2018.

Preliminary figures issued by the National Transport Authority (NTA) show a 9% increase in the number of passenger journeys taken, the seventh consecutive year in which they increased.

Passenger trips have soared in recent years. In 2012, just 207.97 million were recorded. This has increased by more than 80 million since.

The data includes passenger trips taken on Bus Éireann, Irish Rail, Luas, Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland services.

Bus Éireann posted a substantial increase in passenger journey numbers, jumping 14% to 40.4 million in 2019.

Numbers on Bus Éireann’s city services rose by 14% overall, including an increase of 30% on services in Waterford city from 840,000 in 2018 to 1.1 million last year.

Passenger numbers on bus services in the Dublin metropolitan area increased by 7.5% in 2019. PSO services in the Dublin area are provided by Dublin Bus, and by Go-Ahead Ireland, and combined numbers across both companies have gone from 141 million in 2018 to 151 million last year.

The NTA has attributed the growth in Dublin Bus use to new timetables and services, including two 24-hour services, which were introduced late in 2019.

While the company was operating fewer routes in 2019 than previously, overall passenger numbers on those routes rose by some 5%.

Irish Rail also reported strong growth across the Dart, commuter and inter-city services. In 2019, overall passenger numbers reached 50 million for the first time in the company's history, representing an increase of 4.3% on the previous year.

The figures include the first full-year of increased frequency on a number of Dart routes.

Increased rail capacity is planned in the coming years to meet growing demand. To that end, an order has been placed for 41 new railcars for commuter routes, which will arrive from late 2021. In addition, the purchase of 600 new battery-electric and electric carriages is currently out to tender, and a contract is expected to be awarded this year.

Numbers on the Luas increased by 15% to over 48 million in 2019. This growth is, in part, attributed to the expansion of the Luas green line.

Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority, described 2019 as "another year of strong growth".

"There is no doubt that when there is a reliable, high quality, value-for-money public transport offering that customers will respond positively to it," she said.

"But people are also looking to the future of the planet, and they know that by choosing to use public transport, they are behaving in a way that will reduce emissions, improve air quality and protect their local environment.

"None of us can rest on our laurels, and the priority now must be to deliver on those improvements in our public transport infrastructure that are provided for under the Climate Action Plan and Project Ireland 2040.

"That is why it is so important for the NTA to continue to invest in projects such as MetroLink and BusConnect that will provide a better public transport offering into the future.

"It is also why we are working to reduce emissions by investing in hybrid buses and electric trains and other clean technologies."