Victoria Raustyte compares Dublin's public transport systems to other European capitals, and reflects on the perils of commuting through the city.
Picture this, you are rostered to work at 9am, so you get up at 7, get ready and leave to catch the bus scheduled at 8am. You arrive at the stop with a few minutes to spare and look at the display to see the bus is coming in 10 minutes... Five minutes go by, so you glance at the board, only to see that it still says 10 minutes. You start to panic; the time on the board approaches one minute at an agonising rate. You stare down the road as a glint of yellow appears in a sea of other vehicles. You and your fellow commuters stick out your thumbs to flag down the bus, hurriedly preparing your Leap Card. Then, the already-packed bus speeds past you, and you are forced to wave down a taxi that costs half of your daily earnings. This is the reality for so many who live in Ireland.
Anyone who has ever lived or visited Ireland can attest that the public transport system leaves much to be desired. The all-too-common occurrence of scheduled buses not showing up has become a running joke among the Irish, earning them the nickname "ghost buses." Even more frustrating are the buses that breeze past or arrive excessively late, if at all. The railway system in Ireland is inaccessible to many, as the DART and commuter system is only established in a fraction of towns in Dublin, and fail to reach most of rural Ireland. The tram system, ironically named Luas (the Irish for ‘speed’), has the same problem: only two lines, the Red and Green lines, which only serve Dublin. Since Luas and train lines are scarce in many areas, most commuters depend on an unreliable bus system.
Driving is an alternative that many cannot afford; a car or even a licence in itself is too costly an investment. The financial burden of owning a vehicle, including the initial purchase, maintenance, lessons, tax, insurance, and the constant hike in fuel prices are all substantial deterrents, let alone the head-wreck of rush hour traffic. In 2019, there were over three million licence holders but just under 2.3 million licensed cars for private use on the road. If circumstances were different, relocating closer to your university or job would be an obvious solution. However, the ongoing housing and cost-of-living crisis makes this almost impossible to achieve. Thus, the ill-structured transport system is exacerbated by the ongoing concurrent crises.
In May 2023, Greenpeace ranked Dublin as having the worst public transport system among 30 European capital cities. For many of us, this news is hardly surprising; it merely confirms our frustrations with the city’s poor and overpriced public transport. Andrea Beyer, a second-year MA in International War Studies, tells us about her experience of public transport whilst studying abroad in Berlin: “Transport in Germany is not all it's made out to be, with frequent train cancellations and delays. Nonetheless, compared to what I am used to with Dublin, it was a commuter's dream.”
Andrea discussed how Berlin had many transport options across the city, which meant that even if her desired mode of transport was delayed or cancelled, she could walk over to a bus, tram, train or metro and still be on time. Andrea was living in Berlin but studying at Potsdam University; the 43.5km journey to university took her only an hour, “I was shocked that I could travel to a completely different city, walk a few minutes to a station, hop on a train and altogether be in class in just over an hour. In comparison, for the final year of my undergraduate programme at UCD I rented a room in Clontarf, which was only 10km from the university, and the journey by Dublin bus took me an hour and a half.”
For Andrea, another positive of German public transport was that, as part of her semester contribution fee, the University provided her with a nationwide transport ticket. She was able to use the ticket to travel anywhere in Germany on all transport modes, with fast-speed trains the only exception. Despite some apparent flaws, the wide range of transport options available make delays or cancellations only minor inconveniences. Germany's transport system is clearly a step ahead of Ireland's.
Ireland’s National Development Plan commenced in 2021; promising to establish a (mostly) underground railway route for places of note, such as Dublin Airport, educational facilities, and major employment zones. The goal is to seemingly complete this by 2030, however coming up to the third year in October there is no significant progress to be seen.
It is abundantly clear that the Irish transport system pales in comparison to other countries; a cancelled bus or train may be a minor inconvenience in Germany, but is often derailing in Ireland. This highlights just how underdeveloped the Irish public transport system is. Demand for better services will only continue to rise, as more people are resorting to public transport due to the ongoing housing and cost-of-living crises.
We can only cross our fingers and hope that in the next few years, major headway will be made in terms of the National Development Plan.