Snail’s pace rollout of contactless payments on public transport damaging Dublin – Ward

The inability for passengers to use contactless payments on Dublin’s public transport network over a busy tourist period in the capital is unacceptable and embarrassing, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Fine Gael TD Barry Ward said: “My office is contacted on a regular basis by commuters who rely on the DART and bus services about this issue. People are increasingly frustrated at how slowly the rollout is progressing, particularly given how essential access to public transport is for workers, students and families in our area.

“Contactless payment will hugely simplify our public transport network for everyone. It’s baffling that Dublin Bus continues to expect customers to provide “exact change” in coins, when they could simply tap their phone or bank card.

“This failure to deliver is thrown into sharp focus this weekend in particular, as Dublin is visited by huge numbers of European and international tourists. With yesterday’s Ireland V Scotland rugby international, we saw huge numbers visit our city, many of whom will stay on to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday.

“What do they think when they realise that they must either have cash or a Leap card with credit applied to hop on and off our bus, DART and rail services?

“Given that we don’t have a rail link to Dublin Airport, we should be making that bus journey as seamless as possible to encourage return visits, while we await the delivery of MetroLink.

“The NTA has said that it intends to “deliver the project as efficiently and effectively as possible”. If that’s the case, why are we still waiting around on a system that is commonplace in the majority of European capital cities?

“It is anticipated that new validators will be installed in the Greater Dublin Area from 2027, with contactless bank card payments implemented in 2028.

“This timeline for delivery is in stark contrast to cities like London, where full rollout took less than two years. Contactless payment was launched on Amsterdam’s public transport network in 2022 and by 2023, it had been expanded to the rest of the Netherlands. In Madrid, a pilot scheme was launched in late 2024 and had been fully deployed by 2025.

“We need to do better and get in line with our European neighbours on contactless payments without any further delay. Weekends like this present us with an opportunity to showcase what Ireland and our capital city has to offer visitors from abroad. We don’t want anyone leaving with a bad taste in their mouth. The NTA needs to get its act together on this.” concluded Deputy Ward.