Cork City buses to introduce 90-minute free transfer Leap fare from next month

Cork commuters will soon enjoy free bus transfers with a 90-minute Leap card fare — but tap-on tech faces delays

Free bus transfers coming to Cork with new 90-minute Leap fare — but tap-on system delayed. File picture: Denis Minihane

A new 90-minute Leap card flat fare is being introduced on Cork’s city bus network next month that will allow passengers free transfer between buses for multi-leg journeys.

A new distance-based fare structure is also being introduced in a new commuter zone outside the city zone that will extend to some 30km from the city centre.

However, plans to introduce a new ‘tap-on tap-off' payment system on the bus fleet around the same time have been delayed due to technical and software issues, the Irish Examiner has learned. 

It follows the adoption of a new fares policy and two new fares zones for Cork by the board of the National Transport Authority (NTA). The fares will be introduced in three phases from next month, with the flat 90-minute Leap card fare introduced first, applying initially to Cork City bus services only.

The second stage, scheduled for later this year, will see a flat 90-minute Leap card bus and rail fare, applying to city bus services and to rail services between Kent, Little Island and Glounthane stations. The fare will be set higher than the bus-only 90-minute fare in stage one, which will then be discontinued.

And next year, stage three will see the introduction of distance-based commuter bus fares in the new Cork Commuter Zone, which is outside the city zone and extends 30km from the city centre to include the rest of the commuter train stations, including Midleton and Mallow, as well as commuter bus services operating in the area that extends to just south Fermoy, and takes in Bandon and Kinsale.

However, plans to install a pole-mounted Leap card validator system on buses to allow passengers board and pay without having to go to the driver have been delayed over technical and software issues.

The new fares structure, similar to the TFI 90-minute fare that operates in Dublin across the capital’s bus and Luas network, is seen as a vital part of the BusConnects project. The fare changes will apply to the existing bus network before the Cork BusConnects network is introduced, from next April.

Green Party Cllr Oliver Moran said they will have a real impact.

“They're the first stage of the overall BusConnects programme that people will actually experience. They'll make a real difference to passengers and services here and now, where people will really feel it,” he said.

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“In the next five to 10 years, we need to draw more people onto public transport in preparation for high-frequency commuter rail, BusConnects and eventually the Luas. Public transport has to be the go-to choice for commuting in the city in that time period.”

Despite the delay in the introduction of the tap-on, tap-off payment system, Mr Moran said once it’s introduced, it will mean faster boarding.

“That's going to help with queuing times at busy stops like St Patrick's Street, Kent Station and Clontarf Street. It means in overall journey times, a bus driver can travel faster too along a route.”