Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I very much thank and welcome the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to the Chamber to address this Topical Issue on the anomaly faced by Greystones DART commuters with regard to the pricing structure of their tickets. It is really an issue of fairness and equity. Ten years ago, the DART was extended to my hometown, Greystones, and has been a great success. Every morning, thousands upon thousands of commuters use the service and everything is going well in that regard. The difficulty and lack of fairness arise from the fact that Greystones commuters are paying through the nose for the service. This arises from outdated pricing structures. This would be somewhat understandable if the extension were new but it is now a decade old. It is utterly unacceptable that, ten years on, Iarnród Éireann, in conjunction with the National Transport Authority, has not rectified this pricing structure anomaly.

The Minister does not set the price of train tickets and I am not asking him to. However, I am asking him to bang heads together and ask the NTA and Iarnród Éireann to undertake the necessary review to remove this anomaly. For example, a return DART fare between Bray, the nearest station to Greystones, and Pearse Station, costs €5.80, while a return journey from Greystones to Pearse Station costs €9.60. This is an additional 66% for the luxury of going one extra stop. I have pursued this issue in many ways before tabling it in the House, including extensive correspondence with Iarnród Éireann and the NTA. On 25 May 2011, shortly after my election to the House, I received acknowledgements from the then chief executive of Iarnród Éireann that these anomalies existed and a review of commuter fares would be carried out at the end of that year. More than two years later, while I acknowledge efforts have been made and there is parity of fares in annual tickets, if I board the DART in Greystones today, I will pay 66% more to travel to the city centre than a person boarding the train in Bray. This is not justifiable or fair. We are happy to pay our way but this must be done in a fair manner. The people of Greystones should not pay more than the people of Sandymount or any other DART location, proportionate to their distance from the city centre, for the luxury of using the service.

Following a frustrating period trying to rectify this, I ask that the process be sped up and timeframes put in place. I understand it is a difficult time for Irish Rail financially but we cannot have a situation in which the pockets of Greystones commuters are being picked because of an anomaly in the fare structure. That anomaly needs to be rectified and fairness is needed. I look forward to the Minister's response.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. On 25 May 2011, people from Greystones paid 67% more than people from Bray to get to the city centre, while today they pay 66% more. That demonstrates how slow and gradual this process has been. If it continues at this pace, people of my generation in Greystones need not worry about it because by the time the anomaly is rectified we will be entitled to the free travel pass. There is no justification for the failure of bureaucracy on this. I accept a number of the points made and I acknowledge the great work done on the Leap card. However, I have received correspondence from the NTA and Iarnród Éireann acknowledging that when the DART was extended to Greystones, they never upgraded the pricing structure. Greystones has always been viewed as an add-on to the overall DART system. This needs to be rectified. I was told in 2011 that there would be a review at the end of the year and this would be addressed. Now these bodies are telling the Minister that there will be a review at the end of this year.

The people of Greystones are not looking for a more favourable fare than those elsewhere but they are seeking fairness in order that when people look at the DART map and see they are going one stop further south or north, they see some fairness. Bureaucracy needs to catch up, particularly if we want to encourage people to use public transport. It costs €9.60 return to travel from Greystones to the city centre compared to €5.80 to travel from Bray to the city centre. This acts as a disincentive to use the DART.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I note the Deputy's comments. Nobody disputes that anomalies exist. I agree with him that there is a need for greater equity, but equity in train fares cannot apply only to the DART system. It must take into account the western and northern commuter lines. People travel similar distances to those from Greystones on an inferior service but pay more than them. In many ways, I am making the Deputy's case for him. There is inconsistency and a lack of equity. The NTA and Irish Rail want to phase in more consistent fares over a period without a big bang effect or a significant revenue loss. Perhaps that is the wrong approach and there should be a big bang effect rather than an incremental change, which is what is happening.

I am due to meet the chief executive officer, chairman and board of the NTA on Friday morning. I commit to making this an agenda item for discussion and I will get back to the Deputy following that.