A NEW STRATEGY for how public transport fares outside of the Dublin city area are calculated has been published today by the National Transport Authority (NTA). 

The new national fares structure has been designed, the NTA says, to ensure that the cost per kilometre travelled is “consistent across the country”, which it further states is not currently the case. 

The NTA states that the new strategy will deliver both “political and commercial aspirations around better value, greater transparency and equality in respect of journey distance”. 

The strategy does not, however, mention making fares more affordable. 

The document published today, under a section titled ‘What does this mean for me?’ explains: 

“For journeys by rail or by bus under the new National Fare Structure, you may be charged a different fare compared with what you’re currently paying.”

Now, fares are going to be calculated through a combination of a boarding charge, and an incremental fare based on the distance of the journey. 

This incremental fee will also be related to “the straight line distance between the origin and destination of the journey”. 

The NTA strategy document clarifies that no decision has been made on the “level of the boarding charge or incremental distance based fare”. 

“These will be evaluated and confirmed as part of the wider fare determination undertaken later in 2023,” it adds. 

A variation of this structure will apply to fares in the Dublin city area, which will be regarded as the “City Zone”, and will extend 23 km from the city. 

The implementation of the strategy will see the creation of a new “Outer Dublin Commuter Zone” created, which will extend to roughly 50 km from Dublin city centre. It will include towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare and Greystones. 

The NTA said that these changes won’t affect the current Dublin city zone fares, but fares for journeys between this zone and the outer Dublin commuter zone will be “reviewed and revised in upcoming determinations”. 

Fares for the reverse journey, from outer Dublin into the city, will be based on whichever is cheaper between the fare under the new structure (a boarding fee plus the incremental fee) and the existing ‘Xpresso’ city fare (€2.40) and an incremental fee based on the distance of your journey from the origin to the boundary of the city zone. 

The NTA said that this will ensure that the cheapest fare is “made available for passengers and will help alleviate boundary issues between the national and city fare structures”. 

The NTA further states that the “migration” of current fares to the national fare structure will take place over a number of years, and will be part of the procurement of  “next generation ticketing equipment”, which it adds is underway. 

“NTA hopes to implement revised fare structures in the Dublin commuter area as a priority,” a spokesperson added.