Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Public transport fares are matters for the CIE operating companies in conjunction with the NTA. Under the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, as amended by the Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, the NTA is responsible for determining fares in respect of publicly funded bus and rail services and I have no role in this matter. I have received, however, the information from both Irish Rail and the NTA.

Irish Rail states that the adult day return fares for Greystones are higher than those for Bray, as Greystones is the longest journey within the short hop zone. The distance from Greystones to Pearse Station is 29.6 km while that from Bray to Pearse Station is 22.4 km. The price per kilometre on the Leap card is 29 cent from Greystones to the city centre and 25 cent from Bray to the city centre. Although point-to-point prices are different for Bray and Greystones, Irish Rail points out that regular commuters can avail of monthly and annual tickets that are parity priced for both Bray and Greystones at €122 and €1,220, respectively. These offer significantly better value for customers travelling from Greystones.

I have also been in touch with the NTA about this issue and I have been informed that under Part 3, Chapter 2, of the Dublin Transport Authority Act, the authority has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services by way of public transport services contracts. Those contracts must, among other things, provide for the "fares to be charged and provision for the variation, including increase or decrease, of fares". The NTA has concluded contracts with Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann and these are available on the authority's website. Details of the its determinations on fares are also available on the website.

Irish Rail's current ticket pricing scheme is a product of a system that has developed over a number of years and the build-up over time of a wide range of differing fare levels has limited the opportunity for a clear pricing policy, relating fares to the service offering and providing consistent relationships between fares. The NTA is conscious of these challenges and is attempting to ameliorate the fare structures by gradually improving pricing and removing anomalies in the respective fare increase determinations. This is being done to implement a more distance-based fares scheme, whilst also protecting revenue at this critical time. One example of this from the NTA's most recent fares determination is that trips from Greystones to Lansdowne Road were changed from fare band E to fare band C. Prior to that change, a single adult trip, paid for in cash, between Greystones and Sandymount cost €3.30, whereas a trip from Greystones to the next station on the line, Lansdowne Road, cost €5.20. The fare from Greystones to Lansdowne Road has been improved to €4 from €5.20.

With regard to the differences in Irish Rail's fare levels from both Bray and Greystones to various destinations, the NTA has indicated that it will review these issues as part of the fare determination process later this year. However, the authority points out that examining the Greystones issue will not necessarily involve a reduction in the price of a fare from Greystones to the city centre, as this may result in an additional problem in trying to create a more consistent and well-designed fare structure overall. The fares from Greystones are more favourable if they are compared to the fares and distances on the northern commuter line.

The NTA has stated that it will continue to gradually implement changes to remove fare anomalies, extend consistent distance pricing and smooth the differences at the boundary of the intercity and commuter zones. This should lessen the concerns of the travelling public in particular locations but should also prevent the need for large fluctuations in ticket prices and provide more certainty and transparency in ticket fares, thereby achieving a better pricing structure that protects and supports travel by all.

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