Figures for Cork show more than 7% of bus passengers last year had no valid ticket

Nearly €3,000 worth of unpaid bus and train fares were detected in Cork last year, as NTA figures show that 7.5% of people checked by ticket inspectors on Cork buses did not have a ticket. Figures show on some routes the percentage was as high as 65%.

Documentation from the National Transport Authority (NTA) seen by The Echo showed that of the 9,688 people checked for tickets on Cork buses in 2024, 724 were evading fares, meaning that 7.5% of people checked had not fully paid for their ticket.

In 40.4% of cases across the bus service in general, people caught for fare evading were found not to have a ticket at all, while 56.7% were noted to be ‘over-riding’, meaning they were travelling further than the stop they had told the driver they would be getting off at and had paid for.

A further 2.9% had the wrong ticket classification, meaning they had a ticket meant for a student, child, or young adult but were found not to fit that category.

A standard fare (penalty fine) of €100 is charged by the company to each passenger found not to be in possession of a valid ticket.

If a person receives a fine and pays a standard fare within 21 days of issue, a reduced charge of €50 will be accepted.

Unpaid bus fares

Overall, €992.59 was lost from the unpaid bus fares, an average of €1.37 per ticket evader.

In 2024, Bus Éireann carried 16.5m passenger journeys across its Cork services.

Amounts of people checked varied by route, with 34 people checked on the 237, which goes from the city to Castletownbere; compared to 1,214 on the 220 Ballincollig to Carrigaline, which runs every 15 minutes.

Rates of evasion also varied widely across routes, with two Cork routes having the highest evasion rates of all Bus Éireann buses.

The 206 Grange to South Mall bus saw 82 people checked, 33 of whom were without tickets, an evasion rate of 40%. In the third quarter of 2024, from July to September, 15 people were checked and 11 were found to have no tickets, an evasion rate of 66.4%.

The 220X Ovens to Crosshaven also had a 28% fare evasion rate, with 72 out of 257 people checked found to be without a ticket.

There were six routes where no fare evaders were found; the 202A Hollyhill to Mahon Point; 207A Glenthorn to Merchants Quay; 209A Connolly Rd to Cork City Centre; 213 Black Ash to Patrick Street; 215A Mahon Point to South Mall via Boreenmanna Rd; and the 248 Cork to Glenville via Carrignavar.

Intercity rail services

The NTA documents also included data on Iarnród Éireann Intercity services in 2024.

That data shows that on trains from Cork to Dublin and back, 7,633 people were checked and 151 fare evaders were found, an evasion rate of 2%.

Of the Intercity train ticket evaders, 40.6% had no ticket; 49% were ‘over-riding’, and 10.5% had the wrong ticket classification.

Overall, there were losses of €1,843.33 from the 151 unpaid train fares, an average of €12.20 a ticket, meaning cumulatively, €2,835.92 was lost from 875 unpaid bus and train fares in 2024.