New ticketing scheme to allow 'seamless' journey from Cork to Dublin Airport 

New ticketing initiative launched earlier this week will allow people travelling from all Cork rail destinations to add a connecting bus journey to the airport. Picture: Larry Cummins

Corkonians wishing to travel to Dublin Airport will now be able to do so using just one ticket, no matter where they are in the county.

The new ticketing initiative from coach operator Dublin Express and Irish Rail launched earlier this week will allow people travelling from all Cork rail destinations to add a connecting bus journey to the airport.

The addition of the Dublin Express journey to Dublin Airport will be added on to their rail ticket, making their journey seamless.

The initiative was trialled over the last three months, with a near four-fold increase in sales of joint rail and bus tickets between Heuston Station and Dublin Airport.

From January to September 2023, Dublin Express carried 143,000 passengers to or from Heuston Station and Dublin Airport and by the end of the year, this number is expected to reach 180,000.

National Express Ireland, which launched the ticket, said this showed "massive potential for this new service" and that, assuming there are two passengers per car, 90,000 car journeys have been removed so far in 2023.

John Boughton, managing director of National Express Ireland, said: "There’s clearly a demand for high-quality, sustainable and stress-free travel from Irish consumers.

More and more people are opting for quality public transport services and this service delivers just that.

"Our partnership with Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail is just one of the ways we can help people travel conveniently and affordably. We estimate 33% of airport travellers will use public transport this year and this will only increase in the years to come.

"Not only will it help cut thousands of car journeys from Irish roads, towns and cities, it will also help to cut carbon emissions and help us fulfil our climate action targets as a nation.

Speaking at the launch, chief executive of Iarnród Éireann Jim Meade said: "As a public transport provider we are passionate about promoting the use of public transport."

The passenger numbers released today show that thousands of people are already opting to use this service and I believe that these numbers will continue to grow and grow. 

"This partnership with National Express enables more and more people to choose a sustainable, seamless and convenient transport option when travelling into Heuston and onwards to Dublin Airport."

On Wednesday it was revealed that more than 20 million journeys were made on public transport in September — the highest monthly figure for the year so far.

More than 3.6 million rail journeys were made in September, with an average of 903,969 journeys made per week.