Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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682. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if recent increases in fares for commuters in Maynooth and Leixlip can be revised with particular reference to the large numbers of commuters from these towns who are expected to travel to larger centres for employment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34761/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I refer the Deputy to the Topical Issue on "Maynooth line fare increases for commuters between Leixlip and Dublin" which I answered on 10 November 2016.

I think it important to note that the powers afforded to the National Transport Authority (NTA) with respect to the fares determination process are statutory ones and as Minister I do not have any function in this regard. This year's fares determinations mean that approximately 75% of passengers will see no increase in their fares next year.

Since it assumed its powers in this area, the NTA has sought to simplify what was an extremely complicated and cumbersome fares system and introduce a more logical and fair distance based model.

In relation to rail, an examination of approximately 1,200 Origin and Destination station pairs concluded that fares between some pairs were set particularly low for various historic, commercial and operational reasons and were not in line with the fares other passengers are paying for a similar distance journey. The NTA has been adjusting fares across the rail network in recent years in order to remove these anomalies.

This year the final 261 station pairs were examined with the vast majority seeing a decrease in their fares for next year as a result.

However, inevitably a small number, 36 station pairs to be exact or around 3% of the total number of possible pairs, will see a fare increase. This is as a result of the previously unfair level of fares when compared with other station pairs across the broader network.

In terms of Leixlip, the trip to Dublin Pearse has been moved from zone 3 to zone 4. A single adult Leap fare will now cost €2.93 as opposed to €2.46. There is no change to the cost of a single fare between Maynooth and the City Centre.

Obviously I can understand that passengers at Leixlip will be disappointed at such a change; however, the overall impact of these changes is that all passengers within the Short Hop Zone are now paying the same fare for the same distance from 1 December next and that is in line with the overall strategy being pursued by the NTA.