Dublin transport contactless payment system not operational until 2029, says minister
Contactless payments across Dublin's bus, tram and railway public transport networks will not be fully operational until 2029, Darragh O'Brien has told an Oireachtas hearing.
The first testing phase of the 'next-generation ticketing' contactless payments system will be introduced in 2027 in a 'controlled area within Dublin across bus, rail and Luas', the Minister for Transport told Wednesday's Oireachtas hearing on 2025 transport estimates.
A second phase is scheduled to run in summer 2028, with a third one to follow in 2029, he said.
'Obviously how we roll it out will be dependent on the first phase – if that goes well and the testing of that is robust and we don't require many system changes,' Mr O'Brien said in response to a query on the system from Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman. 'By 2027 to 2029 we would have the system fully operational.'
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The Minister said he was investigating whether it was possible to 'shorten the distance' between the first two testing phases, but he could not give a commitment on that. 'It is a roll-out of, effectively, a whole new contactless ticketing system that's going to be with us for a generation and will make a very significant change.'
A National Transport Authority report published this year stated contact payments on public transport would take about three years to deliver. Spanish company Indra is responsible for the introduction of the contactless system across bus, tram and rail services.
Asked by Fine Gael TD Grace Boland whether the Government planned to maintain the 90-minute €2 fare beyond the end of this year, Mr O'Brien said it was his 'intention to keep that'.
The Minister also referred to the extension of free travel for five- to eight-year-olds from September and extending student travel fares to 25-year-olds.
Anecdotally, recent fare reductions have resulted in more people taking public transport, the Minister said. However, it was difficult to quantify how many people were opting for bus or rail as a result of such price cuts, he said.
Recently published data showed more than one million public transport journeys are now taken in Dublin daily.
The Oireachtas committee also heard how the number of electric-vehicle (EV) charging points across the State remained far behind the European Union average.
At present, there are seven EV charging posts for every 10,000 people, compared to an EU average of 20 per 10,000 and 13 per 10,000 in the UK, Sinn Féin's Pa Daly told the committee.
People needed to have 'confidence that the battery will take them far enough, but also that they'll be able to recharge around the State', Mr Daly said.
He also cited a recent warning from the Climate Change Advisory Council that the Government did not support access for lower-income families to EVs, which jeopardised emissions targets.
Acknowledging that the number of charging points was below the EU average, Mr O'Brien said his department was addressing the shortfall and investigating EV grant options for lower and middle-income families and for rural dwellers. Asked if this would include grants for second-hand EVs, Mr O'Brien said it would.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Minister told Newstalk Breakfast radio he did not expect the State would hit its projection of one million EV users by 2030, but said numbers would most likely reach 630,000-700,000 by the end of the decade.
Responding to concerns from Mr O'Gorman regarding the 'almost systematic removal of references to cycling in this programme for government', Mr O'Brien told the committee the TD could 'be absolutely assured that this Government is as committed as the last to continue the real advancements that were made over the last five years in the provision of active travel schemes'.
In addition to the Government's commitment to spend €360 million on public transport infrastructure, Mr O'Brien said his department would seek additional funds through the updated National Development Plan to improve 'active travel'.
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