New smart card limited to Luas

The State's second travel "smart card" to be launched by the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, on Monday will only be valid on Luas services, at least for another year.

Smart cards are the means by which the same ticket or electronic card may be used to travel on all mass public transport systems in the capital. Their development was originally announced by Mary O'Rourke in 2002.

The first smart card was launched by her successor, Séamus Brennan, in March 2004. However, that smart card is still only valid for use on buses belonging to the Morton's bus company in south Dublin.

The €28 million project to develop the smart cards is being run by the Railway Procurement Agency. The RPA is hoping to launch smart cards for Dublin Bus and Dart services next year.

Following that, the RPA plans to integrate all four smart cards, belonging to Luas, Dublin Bus, Dart and Morton's, providing a "swipe-through" system across the major transport providers in the city.

The next stage of development, at a date yet to be determined, will see Iarnród Éireann's suburban services through Maynooth, Donabate and Naas integrated into the system.

When it was inaugurated in 2002 Ms O'Rourke said she envisaged the system ultimately being deployed across Bus Éireann services, Iarnród Éireann inter-city services and services provided by private inter-city bus operators.

She said she thought the system could be "rolled out" in two years. Mr Brennan said last year that the four operators would have the system in operation in 2005.

The RPA chief executive, Frank Allen, described smart cards as "a proven concept" at the launch of the Morton's card last March.

In his speech Mr Brennan asked Mr Allen to ensure that the operational date was 2005 and not 2006. That request will not not now be met.

Apart from the RPA smart card system, Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus already operate integrated ticketing systems based on paper tickets with metal strips.

The Fine Gael transport spokeswoman, Olivia Mitchell, a critic of what she claims are undue delays in providing integrated ticketing, said money had been available prior to 2000 to introduce an integrated system.