Public transport services reduced over Christmas due to Covid-19 restrictions

Public transport will be operating at significantly reduced capacity over the festive season, in light of the reimposed Covid-19 restrictions, operators have said.

The Government announced on Tuesday that the country would face enhanced restrictions and effectively move to Level 5 from December 26th in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

In a statement, Irish Rail said that under Level 3, which is in place until Christmas Eve, 50 per cent of capacity is available for use on all train services.

However, this will be reduced to 25 per cent capacity from December 27th and should only be used by those travelling for essential work or education purposes.

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There will be no train service on Christmas Day or St Stephen’s Day, the statement said.

On Christmas Eve, the Intercity routes will operate a weekday service but with cancellations and alterations on certain routes, and with last services between 6pm and 8:30pm.

The Dart and commuter service will operate a Saturday service until around 9pm, and the Cork commuter service will operate a Saturday service until around 6:30pm.

However, Irish Rail said it would honour all prebookings made up to December 22nd for travel between now and January 6th, and Intercity services will operate at a capacity of up to 50 per cent solely in order to honour these bookings.

Buses

Dublin Bus said it will be moving to 25 per cent capacity from midnight on December 24th. There will be no bus service on Christmas Day, and from December 26th, busses will be for essential work and essential purposes only.

Bus Éireann and Expressway services said, in line with Government advice, public transport should be avoided from after Christmas.

Capacity will be limited to one in four seats and passengers are advised that these seats should be reserved for essential workers, to observe capacity signage on board vehicles and to continue the mandatory wearing of face coverings on all services, the service said.

Allen Parker, Bus Éireann chief customer officer, thanked customers for their “high compliance rate” with all Covid-19 restrictions to date.

“We are aware that increased restrictions can be frustrating for our passengers and we would like to take this opportunity to ask for their continued understanding and respect for all our frontline employees, including our drivers and supervisors,” he said.

“We will continue to work tirelessly to deliver essential public transport services to those who need to travel over the Christmas period and look forward to the continued support of our customers as we all work together to stop the spread of Covid-19.”