The government has a strategic objective to provide a well functioning, accessible and integrated public transport system that:
- enhances competitiveness
- sustains economic progress
- promotes balanced regional development
- contributes to social cohesion
It is important to have a defined standard of public transport that's affordable for both customer and taxpayer.
The government also has an objective to ensure the timely and cost effective delivery of the Public Transport investment programme in line with the outcomes set out in the National Development Plan 2018-2027 as part of Project Ireland 2040.
The National Transport Authority is involved in the supply of various public bus services in Ireland such as Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Local Link.
Buses and coaches are classified as Large Public Service Vehicles which include 'vehicles with capacity to carry more than eight passengers for reward'.
Policy oversight for the sector focuses on the:
- licensing framework for Large Public Service Vehicles
- licensing framework for Road Passenger Transport Operators Licences
- policy framework for the operation of bus services for hire and reward including the licensing of scheduled services administered by the National Transport Authority
The National Transport Authority is the national enforcement body for bus and coach passenger rights in Ireland.
The Irish railway network currently extends to approximately 2,400 km of operational track, with over 4,400 bridges, 144 stations and over 930 level crossings. It served 50.1 million passengers in 2019 following several years of significant growth.
The network comprises lines run by Iarnród Eireann who operate InterCity, regional, commuter and DART services, as well as rail freight services.
There is a responsibility to produce policy and legislation for the economic regulation of railways. The government ensures that the railway market in Ireland complies with EU requirements.
In order to ensure a robust regulatory regime for the railway market in Ireland, the EU requires compliance with rules concerning the establishment of a single railway area, and market access.
In particular, rules have been developed to open the markets for domestic and international rail freight and international rail passenger services. The Fourth Railway Package , which will be transposed into Irish Law in 2020, contains further proposals for the opening of domestic markets.
Small Public Service Vehicles are vehicles with the capacity to carry up to eight passengers (excluding the driver) for reward, and include taxis, hackneys, wheelchair accessible vehicles, and limousines.
The department has responsibility for policy and statutory frameworks for the sector. The National Transport Authority (NTA) is responsible for the operational regulation of the sector.
The Department of Transport Sectoral Plan, under the Disability Act 2005, is called Transport Access for All (2012) This concept is based on the principle of Accessible Public Transport which does not distinguish between people with disabilities and other passengers.
At the whole of government level:
- the National Disability Inclusion Strategy (2017-2021) is aimed at improving the lives of people with disabilities. Implementation of the NDIS is being overseen by the NDIS Steering Group on which the Department of Transport is represented
- the Comprehensive Employment Strategy CES) for People with Disabilities sets out a 10 year approach to ensuring that people with disabilities, who are able to, and want to work are supported and enabled to do so. Both the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority (NTA) are represented on the CES Implementation Group
Please find more information on Accessibility in Transport.
The Department of Transport provides funding and the policy framework for the Rural Transport Programme (RTP) through the National Transport Authority (NTA). The RTP now operates under the name Local Link.
The NTA has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It also has responsibility for integrated local and rural transport, including overall management of Local Link services.
Local Link aims ‘to provide a quality nationwide community based public transport system in rural Ireland which responds to local needs'. Its key priorities, under the Local Link Rural Transport Programme Strategic Plan 2018-2022 include addressing rural social exclusion, the integration of Local Link services with other public transport networks and the provision of better linkage between, and within, towns and villages.
There has been a substantial increase in funding for Local Link services since 2016, from €12.2 million in 2016 to €23.4 million in 2020. The additional funding has enabled the introduction of over 75 new regular commuter services (by the end of 2019), improvements to demand responsive services, and piloting of evening/night-time services which are now mainstreamed. The new Rural Regular Services operate at least five times per day, over a 5, 6, or 7 day (per week) schedule. They are designed to ensure connectivity with other public transport services, improve linkage of services between and within towns and villages and facilitate onward journeys to access education, employment, health, recreational and other opportunities.
During 2019, 2.5 million passenger journeys were recorded on over 366,756 services trips - across 2,500 services routes - a mixture of demand responsive transport and regular commuter type services.
Local Link services are operated and managed by 15 Transport Co-ordination Units throughout the country. Each office manages the day to day requests and delivery of bus services in that area.
For more information, please visit www.locallink.ie. The services are also are included in the National Journey Planner, which can be accessed at Transport for Ireland.
