LATE NIGHT TRAINS will likely not operate when pubs and clubs are allowed extend their opening hours next year.
Speaking to The Journal, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan indicated that the focus will be on expanding 24-hour buses only.
Pubs and nightclubs will have the option to remain open until 6am from next summer.
Government promised the new licensing laws would be in place by this summer, however that has since been pushed out.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told The Journal in June that the late night opening hours will not be in place by Christmastime, though he said they should be ready by next summer.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has previously said that public transport will be key to pubs being allowed to staying open late, stating that it is paramount that people can get home safely.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan confirmed that late-night trains will not be rolled out.
He said the expansion of the bus service is the focus, stating:
“We are starting to put in much later services. I think on the rail, it can be tricky. The railroad people, I was asking about this, and they say, you do need some time to service, you need to repair, you need to upgrade.
“So running 24/7 on the railroad network is tricky. You do need a period where there’s downtime to work on your signalling and all the other repair work.
“I think the night buses and the expansion of that absolutely is something I’m very keen to support [Tourism Minister] Catherine Martin as we start building up our nightlife again,” said Ryan.
Luas services running past 1am has already been ruled out for now by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
Ryan had asked the authority to examine the prospect of running late-night tram services in Dublin. Currently the Luas does not operate between 1am and 5am.
Speaking to reporters at the Irish Centre in New York yesterday, Varadkar said the government still intends to have legislation through by the summer of next year, which will provide for late licenses.
However, he said a call will have to be made by the justice minister in the next few weeks as to whether the government moves ahead going for a complete overhaul of the sale of alcohol legislation, which would take a lot longer.
Varadkar said the late night live music venues, as is the case in Lisbon, London or New York has been something that has been missing from Ireland and Irish nightlife.
“I for one, don’t think that music venues being open till 5am or 6am, or DJs being able to play music till 5am or 6am, isn’t in itself going to cause problems in terms of public order, in fact, not shutting everything down at the same time at night might actually help in terms of policing and management of transport and management to people on the streets,” he said.
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