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  • A total of 217.6 million passengers were carried on scheduled bus services, 37.6 million passengers travelled on the Luas and 45.5 million passengers travelled by rail in 2017.

  • Iarnród Éireann carried 546,000 tonnes of freight in 2017. The principal commodity carried was mineral ores.

  • The largest number of journeys by users of the bicycle sharing scheme in Dublin was in May when 388,889 journeys were made. For Cork and Galway, the month of October had the most bicycle journeys when 27,865 and 4,514 journeys were made respectively. May was the month when most journeys occurred in Limerick (3,584).

X-axis labelNumber of bus passengers
2010198.564
2011195.273
2012192.370
2013191.111
2014197.390
2015200.994
2016205.571
2017217.605
Table 8.1 Summary of scheduled bus passenger services, 2010 - 2017
   '000
Scheduled services20102011201220132014201520162017
Passengers
Dublin city services118,977116,958115,198114,268116,262122,093125,377138,978
Provincial city and town services16,62016,38916,72817,65118,64119,35220,57820,178
Other scheduled services20,64020,11220,04618,07618,54718,50919,10817,683
School transport scheme42,32741,81440,39841,11643,94041,04040,50840,766
Total passengers198,564195,273192,370191,111197,390200,994205,571217,605
         
Vehicle kilometres
Dublin city services156,50053,90052,10050,30054,73055,34055,32057,350
Provincial city and town services8,2678,0617,8057,6647,9468,3608,9689,266
Other scheduled services82,77982,40982,63371,17170,80469,39071,40067,031
Total vehicle kilometres147,546144,370142,538129,135133,480133,090135,688133,647
         
Litres of fuel used
Dublin Bus - diesel31,34630,06028,00027,43927,11527,48727,41627,786
Bus Éireann - diesel28,19628,50028,70028,20028,21528,18328,74026,606
Total fuel used59,54258,56056,70055,63955,33055,67056,15654,392
Sources: Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus
1 Revised data from 2010 to 2016

  

Table 8.2 Average daily flow of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann passengers by city services and time of day, 2017
Hour% of daily flow
CorkGalwayLimerickWaterfordDublin
00:00 - 06:591.11.00.30.02.8
07:00 - 07:596.14.64.21.97.2
08:00 - 08:596.86.87.08.98.3
09:00 - 09:595.75.56.27.25.4
10:00 - 12:5919.519.922.828.415.9
13:00 - 15:5923.624.126.829.920.1
16:00 - 16:599.29.09.29.28.3
17:00 - 17:598.98.07.86.69.2
18:00 - 18:596.56.95.82.97.2
19:00 - 21:599.610.57.54.111.6
22:00 - 24:003.03.72.40.94.0
Total100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0
Sources: Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus

                                         

Table 8.3 Average weekly flow of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann passengers by city services and day of week, 2017
 Number
Day of weekCorkGalwayLimerickWaterfordDublin
Monday33,17211,6398,7492,154395,241
Tuesday38,25813,16510,0152,537435,395
Wednesday39,44013,44510,3692,641447,695
Thursday39,83913,73910,7612,805454,196
Friday39,62113,22010,5382,709447,024
Saturday26,5179,6117,3771,533296,475
Sunday15,0535,4843,3643200,378
Total231,90080,30361,17314,3822,676,404
Sources: Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus

                                         

Table 8.4 Dublin Bus passenger numbers by month, 2013 - 2017
Month20132014201520162017
January9,242,3558,991,1759,577,5289,857,29110,468,427
February9,164,1529,117,3939,596,45810,700,55310,718,425
March9,414,33110,327,49710,543,38010,701,98712,051,139
April9,691,4809,648,83010,041,33911,091,97710,841,832
May9,945,2499,439,4799,371,54510,825,74711,771,832
June9,677,1839,096,2539,470,6749,957,22010,986,482
July9,491,1289,250,78010,317,02710,480,10911,629,833
August8,184,9959,348,4489,537,13310,243,16911,342,248
September9,947,84810,288,40910,979,8848,559,90912,432,529
October10,806,86110,746,11511,432,62811,236,56712,546,921
November10,538,51610,545,02111,052,01311,318,90213,024,610
December9,163,9559,462,59110,172,94610,403,92211,163,861
Total115,268,053116,261,991122,092,555125,377,353138,978,139
Source: Dublin Bus

                                         

Table 8.5 Dublin Bus fleet by garage, 2016 - 2017
Number
Depot2016 2017
Low floor busesOther busesTotal Low floor busesOther busesTotal
Donnybrook 11130113 1130113
Donnybrook 21130113 1130113
Ringsend1060106 1070107
Conyngham Road94094 95095
Summerhill81081 1010101
Clontarf82082 81081
Phibsboro1830183 1850185
Harristown1920192 1970195
Total9640964 9900990
Source: Dublin Bus

                                         

Table 8.6 Bus Éireann passenger numbers, 2013 - 2017
Million
 20132014201520162017
City/town services
Cork city10.310.911.712.612.3
Galway city3.84.14.04.34.2
Limerick city 2.82.92.82.92.8
Waterford city0.80.80.80.80.8
      
Stage carriage/commuter11.011.010.911.510.6
Expressway/eurolines6.56.97.06.96.3
Schools41.143.941.040.540.8
Other services0.60.60.70.70.7
Total76.881.178.980.278.6
Source: Bus Éireann

                                         

Table 8.7 Bus Éireann fleet, 2013 - 2017
    Number of buses
 20132014201520162017
Expressway/eurolines181170180148144
Stage carriage/commuter297305308312325
City/town services
Cork city788588103104
Limerick city2121223536
Galway city2525263838
Waterford city1111111212
Sligo town66666
Navan town33333
Athlone town33333
Dundalk, Drogheda, Balbriggan77777
Other services51010109
Total637646664677687
Source: Bus Éireann

                                         

Table 8.8 Number of licensed bus operators by county, 2013 - 2017
County20132014201520162017
Carlow2422212019
Cavan6060595651
Clare6967696564
Cork141136133131123
Donegal129124126128127
Dublin240232234229227
Galway143132128129130
Kerry103101104105104
Kildare9390898074
Kilkenny3532313232
Laois4343404140
Leitrim2122212021
Limerick6971716769
Longford2121201920
Louth4847514949
Mayo9394929089
Meath97101107110103
Monaghan4343424138
Offaly3938363838
Roscommon3638383533
Sligo3329313126
Tipperary7878787771
Waterford3029292825
Westmeath3330313433
Wexford6164656764
Wicklow7374726765
Total1,8551,8181,8181,7891,735
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

                                         

Table 8.9 Luas passenger numbers by month and line, 2017
MonthRed lineGreen lineTotal
January1,576,8141,227,2442,804,058
February1,659,7251,193,1602,852,885
March1,861,5631,383,1123,244,675
April1,720,7251,204,2482,924,974
May1,824,9421,315,8843,140,826
June1,794,5751,219,4553,014,029
July1,842,5681,245,1513,087,719
August1,831,5831,239,2243,070,807
September1,841,2231,368,4693,209,692
October1,859,3241,344,6263,203,950
November2,046,0511,461,1263,507,177
December1,850,2781,733,9203,584,198
Total21,709,37215,935,61937,644,991
Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland

                                         

Table 8.10 Luas infrastructure, 2017
 Red lineGreen line
Length of line20.8km16.4km
Journey time51 minutes40 minutes
Number of trams4026
Length of tram40.8 metres43.6 metres
Capacity of tram265285
Passengers carried21,709,37215,935,619
Vehicle kilometres2,314,4361,603,413
Passenger kilometres102,034,04882,865,219
Average length of journey4.7km5.2km
Average number of stops per passenger77
Timeliness (% services to timetable)98.04%99.06%
Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland

                                         

Table 8.11 Average weekly flow of Luas passengers by day of week and line, 20171
 Number
Day of weekAverage red lineAverage green lineAverage Total
Monday58,04043,137101,177
Tuesday64,54648,240112,785
Wednesday67,83651,350119,186
Thursday70,88853,364124,252
Friday72,93354,764127,697
Saturday46,66633,39280,058
Sunday36,57922,20858,787
Total417,488306,454723,942
Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland
1 Data based on the period 1/1/2017 to 31/12/2017

                                         

Table 8.12 Average daily flow of Luas passengers by time of day and line, 2017
   Rate
HourDaily flow green line %Daily flow red line %Weighted average %
05:00 - 05:590.290.300.29
06:00 - 06:591.461.751.63
07:00 - 07:597.104.755.73
08:00 - 08:5913.438.4410.51
09:00 - 09:595.465.675.58
  
10:00 - 10:593.284.994.28
11:00 - 11:593.685.214.57
12:00 - 12:593.946.145.23
13:00 - 13:594.826.825.99
14:00 - 14:595.066.345.81
  
15:00 - 15:595.826.856.42
16:00 - 16:597.788.768.35
17:00 - 17:5910.899.359.99
18:00 - 18:599.327.488.25
19:00 - 19:595.795.475.60
   
20:00 - 20:594.103.783.91
21:00 - 21:593.232.562.84
22:00 - 22:592.361.782.02
23:00 - 23:591.623.172.53
00:00 - 00:590.560.400.46
Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland

                                         

Table 8.13 Summary of passenger and freight traffic by rail, 2012- 2017
  '000
 201220132014201520162017
Passengers  
Mainline and other services8,1898,14410,23010,49010,77211,557
Dublin suburban services12,10011,73010,58410,96211,95412,696
DART15,56515,98515,94917,15018,98720,077
International journeys8868801,0411,0581,1031,175
Total36,74036,73937,80439,66042,81545,505
      
Passenger kilometres1,607,7021,591,8511,862,7931,916,7221,989,7982,120,987
    
Freight traffic tonnes567589578540581546
       
Freight traffic tonne kilometres90,83998,84599,82796,406101,480100,399
Source: Iarnród Éireann

                                         

Table 8.14 Principal commodities conveyed by rail, 2012 - 2017
Thousand of tonnes
Commodity201220132014201520162017
Ale, beer, stout000000
Beet and beet pulp000000
Cement000000
Fertiliser000000
Mineral ores364364339299334291
Petrol and oil000000
Wood and cork394959635852
General freight164176180178189203
Total567589578540581546
Source : Iarnród Éireann

                                         

Table 8.15 Rail infrastructure, 2012 - 2017
 201220132014201520162017
Length of lines, total [line km]1,894.01,894.01,894.01,894.01,894.01,894.0
Length of lines, passenger [line km]1,679.01,679.01,679.01,679.01679.01679.0
Length of lines in single track [line km]1,208.01,208.01,208.01,208.01,208.01,208.0
Length of maintrack [main track km]2,384.02,384.02,384.02,384.02,384.02,384.0
Length of electrified maintrack [main track km]107.5107.5107.5107.5107.5107.5
Number of passenger stations [passenger stations]142144144144144144
Source: Iarnród Éireann

                                         

Table 8.16 Bicycle sharing scheme data for Dublin, 2016 - 2017
        Number
Month20162017 20162017 20162017
Long term subscriptions1 Short term subscriptions Number of journeys
January1,3531,352 707646 297,735325,331
February1,200934 683597 311,615299,437
March1,3631,277 1,3181,129 334,423348,944
April1,5581,266 1,2951,748 350,128329,188
May1,9181,587 2,2421,804 399,488388,889
June1,7711,298 1,9201,958 390,123354,559
July1,8201,611 2,1412,475 405,016373,039
August1,8781,403 2,1162,120 393,276358,825
September2,6221,837 1,6651,756 409,077364,989
October1,7971,413 1,9341,620 403,070357,107
November1,323883 7671,066 365,182347,689
December849684 1,010565 296,304256,470
Total19,45215,545 17,79817,484 4,355,4374,104,467
Source: JCDecaux
1 Data refers to new memberships each month

                                         

Table 8.17 Bicycle sharing scheme data for Cork, Galway and Limerick, 2017
        Number
 Annual subscriptions1 Short-term subscriptions2 Number of journeys
CorkGalwayLimerickMulti-city CorkGalwayLimerick CorkGalwayLimerick
January9,5142,0002,701212 39279 19,6259242,377
February9,5952,0092,709213 4988 22,1249692,325
March9,6872,0322,726214 845029 26,2341,1123,001
April9,7922,0532,757213 1107134 24,4321,1543,269
May9,9042,0802,785216 11613641 25,3601,5513,584
June10,0352,1042,812220 14512528 21,4451,1472,842
July10,1782,1282,835223 16615637 24,3171,4682,991
August10,2772,1992,858224 15011543 21,4281,4012,729
September11,0343,1612,951227 928118 24,5742,6132,633
October11,1883,2362,965229 905830 27,8654,5142,498
November11,2633,2742,953229 68366 27,6154,3392,308
December11,2783,3122,955231 42304 16,2472,5661,924
Source: National Transport Authority for 'Coca Cola Zero Bikes'
1 Figures represent cumulative annual membership numbers at the end of each month.
2 Short-term refers to the three day/temporary membership
Note: A user can be a member in more than one city.

                                         

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