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Luas does not receive any operating subvention from the State and in order to maintain this position it is necessary to increase fares at this time.
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Before the service was launched on either line, one paper said that the state would subsidise Luas if it wasn't profitable. Whether that is true or not, the reality is, the Luas is ultra-popular, and makes millions of Euro every year. The network has since extended, and more extensions are in the pipeline, providing more windfalls. The begging bowl exercise doesn't wash with me. They have simply taken advantage of the traditional time of year the transport networks have raised their fares. Every rise in Luas fares has always been in early January, and so it is again.