Free travel set to be extended to all children under nine years old

The rollout includes TFI Bus, which offers services on Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead Ireland, and Local Link. It will also apply on Luas services, the Dart, commuter rail and the Cork to Cobh/Middleton lines. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Almost 250,000 children will be eligible for free travel on public transport from Wednesday onwards.

Free travel has now been extended to children aged between five and eight years old, following a commitment that was made in last year’s budget.

It means all children under nine will travel for free while using a Transport for Ireland (TFI) child leap card on all TFI services.

This includes TFI Bus, which offers services on Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead Ireland, and Local Link. It will also apply on Luas services, the Dart, commuter rail, and the Cork to Cobh/Middleton lines.

A leap card can also be used on some private operators, including Ashbourne Connect, City Direct, Matthews Coaches, and the Wexford Bus.

Transport minister Darragh O’Brien said that the change taking effect on Wednesday will expand free transport to an additional 236,000 children across the country between the ages of five and eight years old.

'Sustainable habits'

He also suggested that it will “lay the foundations for lifelong sustainable travel habits”.

“From an early age, children will grow accustomed to using buses, trains, and trams as a natural part of daily life,” Mr O’Brien said.

"The scheme marks an important step towards a fairer, more inclusive public transport system.

“As the National Transport Authority continues implementing its national fares determination strategy, this initiative builds on a range of measures designed to ensure that all passenger groups can benefit equally from our public transport network.”

Minister of state for international and road transport, logistics, rail, and ports Seán Canney said the decision will “ease the burden for families” and “make transport more accessible”.

The programme for government — agreed between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and some Independent TDs following last year’s general election — vows to “examine the further expansion of free public transport for children”.

It also vows to expand the school transport service to include 100,000 additional students by 2030.

Free travel for all children aged under five on subsidised public transport services was introduced in 2017.