The Dart may be coming to Drogheda but will the fares for local commuters be fair and equitable? Today the National Transport Authority (NTA) published its long awaited National Fares Strategy for public bus and rail services which will bring Drogheda and East Meath into a new 50k Dublin Commuter Zone.
Whether or not this will result in the extension of the Short hop fare zone to Drogheda, something that many local public representatives have been campaigning for, remains unclear however.
Fine Gael TD, Fergus O’Dowd, has welcomed the news saying the new Dublin Commuter Zone will lead to revised fares for commuters in the area and will extend from the edge of the Dublin City Zone to approximately 50km from Dublin city centre.
He said that the Chief Executive of the NTA, Anne Graham, had confirmed to him that they will be prioritising the implementation of the fare structure in the new Dublin Commuter Zone.
“This new fare structure aims to ensure that more equitable fares are made available for passengers and will help alleviate boundary issues between the national and city fare structures” he said.
“Whilst this is very welcome news, I will be pressing the NTA to expedite the implementation of the new fare structure in this calendar year, in particular for rail fares to bring about an end to the rip off commuters are currently experiencing on the northern line.”
Labour Deputy Ged Nash said that nothing less than the short-hop fares enjoyed by commuters in places like Greystones will do for the those travelling on public transport from Drogheda and Laytown. He said that he broadly welcomed the NTA’s new Fares Strategy but that the devil will be in the detail.
“I have been campaigning for some time to deliver short-hop fares to commuters in Drogheda and Laytown and while I welcome the NTA’s efforts to develop a more consistent and equitable approach to the framing of fares, what the strategy is still lacking in, is detail” he said.
“I fully expect there to be fare reductions emerging out of this strategy later this year for commuters in Drogheda and Laytown and that is of course, to be welcomed.
“But we still don’t know if Drogheda and Laytown commuters will be treated as short-hop commuters and enjoy the considerable benefits that brings to communities outside of Dublin, like Greystones.”
Earlier this year, the NTA indicated to Deputy Nash that they do not intend “extending the short hop zone to further stations”.
The Louth Labour TD said that if the new fare structures are as to be as equitable as the NTA claims, then the short-hop zone must be extended.
East Meath Fine Gael Councillor Sharon Tolan who has been campaigning for fairer fares for years and secured support for her campaign from Ministers Helen McEntee, Simon Harris and Martin Heydon, said she was “…absolutely delighted with this news today.”
“I am pleased that the NTA chose to use my suggestion of creating a new Outer Dublin Commuter Zone. At the end of the day the Short Hop Zone simply wasn’t reflective of the City and Greater Dublin Commuter Area that exists in reality.
“Two new zones will now be created, Dublin City Zone which will extend approximately 23km from the city in all directions, and the Outer Dublin Commuter Zone extending to approximately 50km from Dublin City centre which will include towns such as Drogheda, Navan, Trim, Enfield, Clane, Prosperous, Newbridge, Kildare, Greystones and Wicklow.
“This will result in great reductions in ticket pricing for everyone using public transport outside of Dublin City. It is a campaign that I fought long and hard but I am delighted with the result.”
