Taxi fares to rise in Dublin by 27 per cent at night

Taxi fares in Dublin are to go up substantially on New Year's Day, only a month after an interim increase was granted in December.

The two increases amount to 27 per cent at night-time (10 p.m. to 8 a.m.), Sundays and bank holidays, and 15.4 per cent during the day, for a five-mile journey.

Fare increases for longer journeys are even greater; a 10-mile journey at night or on Sunday will cost almost 39 per cent more.

Many taxis, however, will be unable to implement the increase or display fares in euro immediately because their meters will not have been recalibrated.

The changeover to the new fare structure, and to euro, will take place at noon on New Year's Day. Taxi-drivers were granted an interim flat-rate increase of 80p per journey on December 1st.

The changeover is likely to prove confusing for travellers, as less than half the taxis have been recalibrated to handle the euro and the new fares. The rest will continue to charge the old, lower fares for the time being.

A Dublin Corporation spokeswoman defended the decision to bring in the new fare structure at the same time as the euro was being introduced. This would minimise the amount of adjustment needed, she said, with meters having to be recalibrated just once.

On top of the increases, additional charges for baggage and animals, which Dublin's four local authorities had sought to abolish, will continue to be levied at 50 cent per item. However, from next month, the charge is limited to a maximum of two items of baggage. The minimum charge increases from €2.41 (£1.90) to €2.75 (£2.16) per journey.

Mr Tommy Gorman, general secretary of the National Taxi Drivers' Union, said he could not understand why the new fares were being introduced on the same day as the euro changeover. "We're just hoping and praying that nothing will go wrong. If it does, the roof will be raised."

Less than half of NTDU taxis had been converted so far, he admitted. All drivers have been issued with a euro convertor to help calculate the new fares, and change will be given in euro.

Recalibration of meters is carried out by the metrology service of the Department of Public Enterprise. New software installed in electronic meters will ensure an automatic adjustment on January 1st, but it could be months before manual meters are recalibrated.

Taxi-drivers have already been given an eight-month derogation from a requirement to provide customers with printed receipts from next month. The Minister for the Environment, Mr Molloy, put off the requirement until September 1st to avoid complications during the euro changeover period.

December's increase was the first in three years. According to the Corporation, it was given in recognition of the delay in agreeing the new fare structure.

Last April, the joint taxi/hackney committee of the four Dublin local authorities approved an average overall fare increase of 10.8 per cent.

However, drivers, particularly those operating out of Dublin Airport, objected to a proposal to remove the additional charge for luggage and animals. The proposal, which required approval from all four authorities, fell after members of Fingal County Council voted against it.

Local authorities subsequently agreed a new fare structure comprising a larger flat-rate increase and the additional charges for luggage and animals.

Deregulation has put an extra 5,000 taxis on Dublin's streets over the past year, yet the service has remained notoriously unreliable, particularly at peak-time periods.

This Christmas again was marked by long queues for taxis throughout the city.