Increase in Fares

[Mark Gleeson]

Its historical to some degree, the NTA have some spiel about it but I cannot recall a route ever being reclassified.

RUI fare calculator shows the fare class and distance

[berneyarms]

Originally Posted by Jamie2k9

Could somebody tell or point me in the right direction to see how they decide which band to place routes into.

Thanks

Go back to the NTA fare determination reports - I think it was the first one on Irish Rail intercity fares from a few years ago.

[jacko]

Originally Posted by berneyarms

You can't compare Midleton to other Intercity routes - the rationale for lower fares was more to do with fewer and slower trains rather than single track.

Midleton has an hourly all day service, and half-hourly at peak times, which isn't exactly a poor service level.

The Intercity fares are now set on the basis of:

Express (Dublin-Cork, Dublin-Limerick, Dublin-Tralee and Dublin-Dundalk)
Economy 1 (Dublin-Galway, Dublin-Mayo, Dublin-Sligo, WRC)
Economy 2 (Dublin-Rosslare, Dublin-Waterford, Nenagh Branch, South Tipperary line)

This applies to Single, Day Return and Open Return fares.

Season tickets are priced on a universal scale.

the most recent rail census shows a significant increase in Midleton passengers

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by Eddie

As an annual Dublin bus and Dart ticket user, I thought I'd just post the changes that have occurred in the last 3 years and while we're at it, let's predict the next two.

2011: €1,230
2012: €1,420 (15.5% increase)
2013: €1,560 (9.9% increase)
2014: €1,710 (9.6% increase)
2015: €1,864? (assuming a 9% increase)
2016: €2,032? (assuming another 9% increase)

That's a 39% increase in the 3 years from 2011 to 2014, and it could be a 65% increase over 5 years if my extrapolations over the next 2 years turn out to be true.

On a separate issue, there seems to be an error with the monthly figure between Dublin and Cork. Every other route the monthly figure is 10% of the annual. Dublin to Cork is 22.7%.

I see Charlie Westin gets a very similar increase regarding his own Annual ticket in the Sunday Independent today, but also points out that through these increases, we're helping to fund some very expensive public sector pension schemes (which are virtually non-existent now in the private sector because they are so unaffordable).

I see that not all the tickets have gone up - some have actually gone down, eg the Commuter Rail / Bus / Luas which has fallen by €100 to €2080. Clearly, they have had to reduce the price to make it more attractive because it was out-of-line with other combo-tickets. So the price goes up if demand appears to be maintained (to increase revenue), but price does actually fall if demand falls.

When I first ditched my car in favour of an annual commuter ticket 4 years ago, it was primarily because it was attractively priced, and gave me time to read the paper and relax on the way to work, even though it made the commute longer.

I have done the calculations based on the new rates and it's now very marginal, and should the increases continue next year, is likely to be more expensive.

I will be make plans this year, so I can pull the plug at will next year.

You're on notice, Annual Tax Saver ticket.

[Eddie]

Originally Posted by Eddie

As an annual Dublin bus and Dart ticket user, I thought I'd just post the changes that have occurred in the last 3 years and while we're at it, let's predict the next two.

2011: €1,230
2012: €1,420 (15.5% increase)
2013: €1,560 (9.9% increase)
2014: €1,710 (9.6% increase)
2015: €1,864? (assuming a 9% increase)
2016: €2,032? (assuming another 9% increase)

That's a 39% increase in the 3 years from 2011 to 2014, and it could be a 65% increase over 5 years if my extrapolations over the next 2 years turn out to be true.

Let's see how close my prediction will be ... despite energy price falls and increased patronage.

[James Shields]

So what was the 2015 price?

James

[James Howard]

Well they are out and we're supposed to be grateful that they've held increases to around 3%. They seem to have entirely given up on any kind of efficiency gains, the subvention is going up, usage is going up and yet the increase is still more than 3% above inflation.

Fare Determination

According to this, the current CPI inflation rate is -0.3%.

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Eddie

Let's see how close my prediction will be ... despite energy price falls and increased patronage.

Bus and Rail 2015 1710
Bus and Rail 2016 1760