On Trains & Buses

Twice a year VIA Rail reviews its schedules and passenger demand and adjusts services accordingly. This round brings some genuine losses alongside a couple of gains, so it is worth checking whether your usual journey is affected. The changes take effect on 25^th October.

The most significant change is the loss of the very earliest train from Ottawa to Toronto, the one leaving at 04:13 and arriving by 08:48. That departure is being scrapped. The next earliest Ottawa to Toronto train will move earlier to cover some of the gap, leaving at 04:56 instead of 05:21 and arriving in Toronto at 09:37. Anyone who relied on being in Toronto before nine has effectively lost that option.

Several afternoon services are being cut down sharply. A Toronto to Ottawa train running six days a week will, from 25th October, run only on Tuesdays. An Ottawa to Toronto departure running five days a week is being cut to Wednesdays only, while another Ottawa to Toronto service that runs on Fridays and Sundays will become Sunday only. The mid-morning Ottawa to Toronto train that runs on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays loses its Monday departure, continuing on Fridays and Sundays.

Two trains lose only a single day rather than most of the week. The late-morning Ottawa to Toronto train, leaving at 11:43, stops running on Saturdays but otherwise carries on as normal, while an early evening Toronto to Ottawa train, leaving at 17:38, stops running on Sundays and continues on the other six days.

There is some good news too. A Toronto to Ottawa service is being expanded from five days a week to daily, while an Ottawa to Toronto service that does not currently run is returning as a daily service, leaving Ottawa at 15:25 and arriving in Toronto at 20:18. Overall, though, VIA says the changes amount to an average of one fewer train a day between Ottawa and Toronto.

Finally, two Toronto-area stops are being dropped altogether. Trains will no longer call at Guildwood or Malton. VIA Rail says this will improve overall journey times, pointing to the stations’ proximity to Union Station and access to GO Transit and other local transport.

D&G Bus put a set of service revisions into effect from 1^st September 2026, covering Cheshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Shropshire. Most of these followed service reviews that focused primarily on reliability, and in the majority of cases the response was an updated timetable rather than a different route. A smaller number of services saw route amendments, timing point adjustments, additions to the operating span or, in a few cases, withdrawal altogether.

Alongside these network-wide adjustments, D&G has introduced one new route in Crewe and took over a contracted interurban service linking Staffordshire and Shropshire. For many of the changes, retiming was the recurring theme. This usually meant buses running at different minutes past the hour compared with the previous timetable, often adding extra running time in places where delays had been common.

A second common feature was the revision of timing points, which are places in the timetable where buses may be scheduled to wait if they are early. Changing or removing these points can affect where buses pause, how long they dwell and whether they end up waiting somewhere that creates congestion. For passengers, the practical implications are mostly checking the new timetables, noting altered routeing where it applies and being aware that different service numbers now cover certain sections.

Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire

In and around Stoke-on-Trent, one set of revisions affects services 1, 1A and 11 between Meir and Wood Lane. Some journeys on these routes got retimed to address reliability issues. Similar retiming has been introduced on services 7 and 7A, which link Hanley with Kidsgrove and Biddulph, and on service 8A between Hanley and Endon. A comparable reliability-led retiming applies to services 32, 32A and 32X between Hanley and Uttoxeter, as well as to service 34 between Newcastle and Bradwell and service 104 between Hanley and Newcastle.

Not all Stoke-area revisions were solely about the clock. Service 43, operating between Hanley and Baddeley Green, has been retimed to improve reliability but has also been rerouted. Now, buses operate via Bucknall New Road and no longer serve Northwood.

Service 35 between Newcastle and Chesterton also combined timetable revisions with a route adjustment, with retimed journeys aimed at improving reliability alongside a route amendment in Cross Heath and Chesterton. The changes to service 94 between Newcastle and Congleton took a more targeted approach, with most journeys from Wolstanton retimed to resolve reliability issues, which suggests the review identified particular timekeeping pressures on that section of the route.

One of the more notable Staffordshire and Cheshire boundary amendments is to service 95 between Biddulph and Audley. Some journeys have been retimed to improve reliability, but Wood Lane is no longer served on peak journeys. In addition, the afternoon journey that previously terminated in Kidsgrove now ends at Liverpool Road instead, an amendment specifically linked to alterations in road layout that affect buses turning around using Meadows Road.

Alongside these alterations, one Stoke-area service was withdrawn due to the end of Government funding. This is service 96 between Packmoor and Middleport, which means that its former users now need to find alternative means of travel.

Crewe and Mid-Cheshire

In the Crewe area, the most significant structural revision concerns service 8, previously operating between Wistaston Green and Sydney and Elm Drive. Following a service review, this route now operates only between Crewe and Wistaston Green, while a new circular service takes on the Sydney and Elm Drive section. This takes the form of Service 15, introduced as a new Crewe circular operating between Crewe, Sydney and Elm Drive.

Further improvements in the Crewe and mid-Cheshire area include revisions to service 24 between Norton and Newstead. Retiming is again part of the package, but this route has also gained new early morning and late evening journeys to and from Newstead, extending its span to support earlier work or education journeys and later shift patterns.

A larger set of revisions applies to services 37 and 37A, which also connect Crewe and Northwich. Following a review and with support from Cheshire West and Chester Council, there has been a bundle of adjustments. Some journeys have been retimed to resolve reliability issues, the timing point in Haslington has been changed, and a new timing point has been added in Wheelock. Beyond these operational refinements, short journeys between Sandbach and Winsford have been renumbered to 37A and extended to serve Glebe Green, Over and Grange, effectively turning what were shorter workings into a named variant with a wider catchment, and a new Saturday service has been introduced between Winsford, Glebe Green, Over and Grange, with those journeys operating as 37A. Again between Crewe and Northwich, the timing point in Church Minshull has been removed from and the one in Glebe Green adjusted for service 31.

A related set of timing point adjustments appears on service 38 between Crewe and Macclesfield. Here too, the review led to retiming for reliability, and the timing point in Haslington has been changed with a new timing point added in Wheelock. However, service 38 has also lost a timing point in Arclid, removed due to issues with buses blocking the road when needing to wait time.

Wider Cheshire and the Welsh Border

Across wider Cheshire and into the Welsh border area, further retiming amendments have taken effect. Service 41 between Chester and Whitchurch, service 82 between Northwich and Chester, and service 49 between Weaverham and Rudheath have all had journeys retimed to address reliability issues. Also, service 89 between Knutsford and Northwich has seen a smaller adjustment than many other routes: the timing point in Lostock Gralam has been changed, with minor adjustments to the times.

Cross-Boundary and Specialist Services

Some of the most distinctive network amendments sit outside the usual retiming pattern. Chief among these is Monday to Saturday service 64 between Hanley, Market Drayton and Shrewsbury, which D&G operates from 1^st September 2026, after Shropshire Council awarded it the contract.

There is also an instance where D&G has withdrawn a service, but a sister brand has stepped in with a replacement. Service A, which ran between Stone and Aston Lodge, is a case in point: Chaserider service 151 now provides a replacement between Stone and Aston Lodge. Chaserider operates under D&G Bus as part of the Centrebus Group, with its own branding and ticketing arrangements, so for passengers the practical impact is that the link remains, but under a different service number and brand.

Links between Macclesfield and Manchester Airport have also been adjusted. Service 130, which runs on to the airport via Wythenshawe, has had some journeys retimed following a service review, with revised times specifically on that Wythenshawe to Manchester Airport section. The same review also covers service 150, which shares the same timetable document but runs only between Macclesfield and Wilmslow via Alderley Park without extending to the airport itself.

Finally, service K between Keele Science Park and Chesterton has been modified in two ways. Following a review, D&G has made adjustments to times to improve reliability and introduced a new university holiday timetable to reflect reduced demand outside of term time.

A Reliability-Led Round of Revisions Across the D&G Network

In summary, this round of amendments has touched much of the D&G Bus network in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Shropshire, and each affected route now has an updated timetable referenced in the service information. Working through the full set of amendments shows how a reliability-focused review actually plays out on the ground, through retimed departures, revised timing points, targeted rerouteing and, in a few cases, service withdrawal or transfer to another operator.

On 3^rd September 2026, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced a revised national fare structure for Public Service Obligation (PSO) public transport services. These changes are planned to take effect during 2027, following consultation with operators on implementation timelines, across the Transport for Ireland (TFI) network, and they represent the first broad adjustment to PSO fares since 2018. The decision sits within the NTA’s National Fare Strategy and is presented as a way to support ongoing public transport growth while maintaining key protections for passengers who rely on discounted or free travel.

Although the revised structure includes an average adult increase of 15%, the NTA states that fares will still be around 8% lower than they were eight years earlier. This is linked to fare reductions introduced in 2022 as part of Government cost of living measures, including a 20% discount applied to all subsidised public transport fares. The NTA also frames the scale of the increase against wider economic changes, noting that cumulative inflation rose by 20.8% between January 2022 and May 2026, a figure it draws from the Central Statistics Office.

The revisions apply to cash fares, Leap Card fares and time-based products such as weekly and monthly passes. They cover services operated by Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail, Luas, Go-Ahead Ireland and TFI Local Link. While most attention naturally falls on adult price rises, a significant part of the package is aimed at rebalancing and standardising child fares, particularly in regional cities, towns and the Dublin Commuter Zone, where many child fares are set to fall.

What Stays Protected

A central element of the NTA’s approach is that major concessions are protected. Free travel for children up to their ninth birthday is retained, as is free travel for people aged 66 and over. Other passengers who qualify under the Free Travel Scheme continue to be covered, including changes introduced in 2025 that extended free travel to children aged five to eight and enabled a companion to travel free with eligible passengers aged 70 and over. The 50% Young Adult and Student Discount on equivalent adult Leap fares, introduced in 2022, is also maintained and further standardised across more ticket types in regional cities, towns and parts of the commuter network.

The NTA highlights the scale of these concessions, stating that almost 1.5 million people, around 27% of Ireland’s population, are eligible for age-related free travel or fare concessions. That group includes nearly 550,000 children under nine and more than 860,000 people aged 66 and over. The broader policy direction, therefore, is not only about increasing fares but also about narrowing inconsistencies in how discounts are applied across regions and modes, with a stronger emphasis on uniform ratios for children and young adults.

Funding a Growing Network

Behind the fare changes is a financial argument about sustaining service growth. Fare revenue currently covers about 38% of public transport operating costs, which the NTA describes as being at the lower end of the European average. The remainder is largely covered by the State, supported through PSO funding alongside the Free Travel Grant and other income channels such as advertising and car parking, and in 2026 Government PSO funding reached a record €940 million for operating services across the TFI network.

At the same time, the NTA notes that fare revenue has remained broadly unchanged in recent years due to fare reductions and the expansion of discounted and free travel initiatives, even as passenger numbers have climbed. Demand growth is illustrated by patronage figures for subsidised services: in 2025 there were 363.6 million passenger journeys, a 5.8% increase on 2024, and this figure surpasses the 2019 pre-pandemic peak of 294.6 million journeys by 23%, or 69 million journeys.

The NTA links this rise to a combination of service expansions and fare reforms. These include the expansion of Dublin BusConnects, the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Programme, new rail stations such as Woodbrook (which opened on 10^th August 2025 between Bray and Shankill), the launch of the Portlaoise town bus service, the rollout of the Dublin city and commuter zone fare framework in April 2025, and the introduction and expansion of the TFI 90-Minute Fare to cover commuter rail services in the Dublin Commuter Zone.

Annual Reviews from 2027

From 2027 onwards, fares are set to be reviewed annually. The NTA says these reviews will align fares with operating costs, investment requirements and affordability objectives, which introduces an expectation of more regular changes than passengers have grown used to over the past decade, when broad fare adjustments were relatively infrequent.

Much of the detail behind the 2027 revisions is set out in the NTA Fares Determination 2026, which breaks changes down by area and service type, starting with the Dublin city and commuter zones, then regional cities and towns, then national bus and intercity rail, and finally TFI Local Link. Across many categories the average increase is 15%, but within that average there are notable exceptions where particular fares rise more sharply, where caps change or where child fares fall because of standardisation.

Dublin City and Commuter Zone

In Dublin, the fare changes are closely connected to the evolution of the Dublin city and commuter zone model that went live from April 2025. This structure includes city bus services operated by Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas light rail and DART heavy rail services in the city zone, with Bus Éireann commuter routes, Go-Ahead Ireland commuter services, J.J. Kavanagh & Sons Route 139 and commuter rail in the commuter zone. A key feature of the zonal approach is the use of distance-based fares, described by the NTA as “crow fly” pricing in line with the National Fares Strategy published in 2023, alongside the extension of integrated products such as the TFI 90 fare and multimodal daily and weekly caps, intended to make transfers easier and reduce the penalty for changing modes.

The Dublin City Zone

Within the Dublin city zone, most fares and products will increase by an average of 15%, but the “Short” fare is set to rise by 33% as part of a longer-term plan to simplify the fare offering. The NTA states that it intends to merge the Short fare and the TFI 90 fare into a single 90-minute flat fare in Dublin, a change linked to future ticketing reforms including Next Generation Ticketing and contactless EMV payments, as well as the practical objective of reducing boarding times by minimising the need to interact with the driver. The Short fare is therefore described as being phased out over future fare determinations, with the current determination beginning that process.

The specific changes are clearly set out. In Dublin city bus Leap fares, the adult Short fare moves from €1.50 to €2.00, the adult 90-minute fare from €2.00 to €2.30, and Xpresso and Nitelink from €2.40 to €2.75. Young Adult Leap fares follow the same structure in proportion, with the Short fare moving from €0.75 to €1.00 and the 90-minute fare from €1.00 to €1.15. Child Leap fares for the 90-minute ticket increase from €0.65 to €0.75, while the child Xpresso and Nitelink fare falls from €1.00 to €0.90, reflecting the wider push to standardise child fares at a lower ratio in many places.

Cash fares in the city zone also rise. For Dublin city bus, adult cash Short goes from €2.00 to €2.70, adult Long from €2.60 to €3.00 and Xpresso and Nitelink from €3.10 to €3.60. Child cash Long rises from €0.90 to €1.00, while the child cash Xpresso and Nitelink fare increases from €1.00 to €1.20. Visitor Leap products also increase, with the 24-hour product moving from €8.00 to €9.20 and the 7-day option from €24.00 to €27.60, matching the 15% uplift applied widely across capped and period products.

The same Short fare shift is applied consistently across Luas and DART in the Dublin city zone. Luas Leap adult Short increases from €1.50 to €2.00 and adult 90-minute from €2.00 to €2.30, with equivalent Young Adult changes and the child 90-minute fare moving from €0.65 to €0.75. Luas cash fares also rise, with the adult cash single for Zone 1 increasing from €2.00 to €2.70 and Zone 2 to 8 increasing from €2.60 to €3.00, while child cash singles rise from €0.90 to €1.00. Cash returns increase from €4.00 to €5.40 for the adult Zone 1 return and from €5.20 to €6.00 for Zones 2 to 8, with child returns rising from €1.80 to €2.00.

Capping in the City Zone

Because integrated travel has become a bigger part of the Dublin offer, changes to capping are also important. The multi-operator Leap daily cap in the Dublin city zone increases from €6.00 to €6.90 and the weekly cap from €24.00 to €27.60. Young Adult daily rises from €3.00 to €3.45 and weekly from €12.00 to €13.80, while child daily rises from €1.95 to €2.25 and weekly from €7.80 to €9.00. The NTA positions these caps as continuing to provide strong value for passengers making multiple trips, and it compares them with cap or ticket levels in cities such as Amsterdam, Milan and Paris.

The Dublin Commuter Zone

In the Dublin Commuter Zone, most fares and products rise by around 15%, but the notable structural change is the introduction of a reduced child rate priced at 33% of the equivalent adult fare for all ticket types. The NTA describes this as delivering an average discount of roughly 23% to 27% for child passengers. One example it provides is a child rail trip between Laytown and Balbriggan, where the Leap single is revised to €0.85, a 26% decrease from €1.15.

The commuter zone is also where the NTA retains interim fare measures introduced during the April 2025 rollout. These interim products applied discounts to some Zone 2 and Zone 3 weekly fares while passengers adjusted to the new zonal structure, and under this determination they stay in place, although the NTA indicates it intends to bring them into line with standard weekly prices in a future determination.

The commuter zone approach extends beyond rail to include commuter bus, with detailed approved fare bands for Leap, cash singles and cash returns. These include travel within the Dublin city zone under a DEX fare, plus distance-based bands moving outward. Alongside single fares there are revised commuter bus caps for each zone with daily, weekly, monthly and annual prices shown, including an adult daily cap of €10.65 in Zone 2 and €14.40 in Zone 3, as well as child versions of those caps.

The Eastern Regional Zone

Beyond the immediate commuter zone, the determination also affects Bus Éireann’s longer-distance eastern regional zonal products for areas such as Cavan, Virginia, Mullingar and Tullamore. These Yellow and Orange outer zone products rise by 15% for adult Leap period tickets, but the discount ratios are standardised so that Young Adult and Student fares sit at 50% of the adult rate and child fares at 33%. This produces significant reductions for younger passengers even as adult prices rise, including a child Yellow Zone one-day product decreasing by 34% from €9.60 to €6.35 and a child seven-day product decreasing by 25% from €33.60 to €25.35. Young Adult and Student products see comparable reductions, with a Young Adult or Student Yellow Zone one-day product reducing by 26% and seven-day Yellow and Orange products reducing by 16%.

Regional Cities and Towns

Outside Dublin, the fare determination is closely tied to ongoing urban fare reform in regional cities and towns, with a strong emphasis on preparing the ground for further integrated ticketing, such as 90-minute products, and simplifying the structure of city fares. Regional city services cover Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, while dedicated town services operate in Athlone, Balbriggan, Carlow, Clonmel, Drogheda, Dundalk, Kilkenny, Mullingar, Navan, Portlaoise and Sligo. The NTA also notes that in some cases TFI Local Link routes serving urban areas with a relatively good cumulative service level should use a town fare, a rule already applied on Local Link routes in 13 towns, including Carlow, Portlaoise, Athlone, Mullingar, Sligo and Clonmel among others.

Cork

Cork is treated differently from the other regional cities because major changes were implemented recently. The Cork City bus fare was rationalised to a flat fare with an adult Leap single of €1.70, Young Adult €0.85 and child €0.55, and these rates are retained under this determination, as are the cash singles of €2.40 for adults and €0.80 for children. A city bus only Leap daily and weekly cap was also established in an earlier 2026 fares determination and successfully implemented in July 2026 alongside the introduction of TFI 90 in Cork. The caps are set at €5.10 daily and €20.40 weekly for adults, €2.55 daily and €10.20 weekly for Young Adults and Students, and €1.65 daily and €6.60 weekly for children. The NTA notes that capping is expected to extend to the Cork commuter rail network in a later determination, subject to technical capability.

Cork commuter rail fares do change, with cash, Leap and period products increasing by an average of 15% for adults, while the standardisation of the young adult and child ratios produces decreases for many child fare types. The determination splits the previous flat child Leap single fare into distance bands aligned to the adult fare structure, meaning Band A falls by 15% to €0.55 while Band D, covering journeys to and from Mallow, increases to €1.50. Child cash singles, day returns and monthly fares are set to fall, typically by 20% to 26%. Alongside this, the NTA signals its intention to develop a Cork commuter zone and associated fares for both bus and rail in a subsequent determination, following similar principles to Dublin’s zonal approach.

Galway, Limerick and Waterford

For Galway, Limerick and Waterford, the determination introduces a flat urban fare, discontinuing the previous standard zone fare and replacing it with a structure identical to Cork City: Leap adult €1.70, Young Adult €0.85 and child €0.55. For adults currently paying the higher zone fare this represents a 10% increase, while those paying the €1.35 standard zone fare see a 26% increase. Child Leap singles fall from €0.65 to €0.55 due to the standard discount ratio.

The NTA describes the flat fare as a prerequisite for a 90-minute product and indicates it intends to roll out a similar offering in these cities in future fare determinations, supporting the BusConnects network redesign.

Period Products Across the Regional Cities

Period products in regional cities also change. One-day, seven-day, monthly and annual tickets rise by an average of 15% for adults, while young adult, student and child prices shift to the standardised ratios of 50% and 33% of the adult fare respectively. This results in fare reductions for younger passengers in the range of 18% to 37% on these products, with examples including student one-day products reducing by up to 31% and child one-day products reducing by up to 37%, depending on the city and zone.

Town Services

Town services see a different balance again, with adult fares rising but child fares falling. The adult Leap town fare increases by 10% from €1.50 to €1.65 and the cash town fare increases by 15% from €2.00 to €2.30. The child Leap town fare decreases by 23% from €0.65 to €0.50 and the child cash town fare decreases from €0.90 to €0.80, while the Young Adult town fare becomes €0.80 on Leap, set at roughly half of the adult rate.

The NTA links these changes to supporting continued expansion of town bus networks, pointing to recent launches and enhancements such as the Portlaoise service in 2025, a new Mullingar town service in February 2026, and the addition of Sligo route S3, which began service in 2025.

National Bus and Intercity Rail

On national services, the fare determination applies to Bus Éireann stage carriage routes and Iarnród Éireann intercity rail.

Bus Éireann Stage Carriage Services

Stage carriage fares increase by an average of 15% across cash and Leap, while Leap continues to provide savings compared with cash and maintains the 50% Young Adult and Student discount on equivalent adult fares. The determination notes that child fare discount standardisation for stage carriage will be reviewed in a subsequent fare determination as the National Fares Strategy is rolled out more widely.

Intercity Rail

Intercity rail reforms are a significant element of the 2027 changes, not only because of price but because of ticket type and fare structure. Intercity rail fares have historically been divided into Express, Economy 1 and Economy 2, with pricing linked to quality and frequency of service. The NTA says this rationale is less relevant now, and it notes that it has already merged Economy 1 and Economy 2 into a single Economy rate in earlier determinations. In this determination, Express fares increase by an average of 10% while Economy fares increase by between 8% and 21%, reducing the variance between the categories over time.

A major operational change is that intercity rail Open Return tickets will be discontinued. This is linked to planned ticketing upgrades and the limitations of magnetic stripe tickets, with the NTA stating that the change supports Next Generation Ticketing and contactless payment. Passengers are encouraged to use web fares for single and return journeys, particularly when booked in advance, with the NTA also noting that advance booking supports predicting train loadings and making the best use of available capacity.

In addition, the NTA plans an evidence-based review of rail promotional fares, including discounted tourist rates, to decide which should continue or be discontinued in light of other policy changes such as web fares, the extension of free travel and the establishment of the Dublin Commuter Zone.

TFI Local Link

TFI Local Link services, which include both fixed-route rural services and door-to-door options, also see fare changes. Patronage growth is linked to the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, while innovation is highlighted through the Smart Demand Responsive Transit pilot known as TFI Anseo, currently piloted in Achill, Killarney and north-east Limerick City. The NTA notes that contactless payment options are being rolled out across the Local Link network, with full deployment scheduled for the end of 2026, which will allow payment by Leap, cash or contactless.

Under the 2026 determination, Local Link fares increase by an average of 15%, and period products are standardised using multipliers that set a one-day product at 2.5 single trips and a seven-day product at 3.5 day rates, mirroring the approach used in the commuter zones. No fare adjustments are proposed for the TFI Anseo pilot routes.

The determination also acknowledges longstanding fare differences between Local Link and Bus Éireann where both serve similar corridors but calculate fares differently, with Local Link often charging per 10 km and Bus Éireann using stage carriage pricing. Examples include Newport to Limerick, at €2.25 on Local Link compared with €3.64 on Bus Éireann, and Cavan to Monaghan, at €3.90 compared with €7.35, a variance of 88%. Similar gaps appear on other shared corridors, including Birr to Athlone (€4.50 against €6.72) and Doolin to Galway (€6.15 against €9.45).

These variances are recognised in the National Fares Strategy and are expected to be addressed in the longer term as the strategy is rolled out across stage carriage bus and intercity rail, with implementation currently scheduled for 2027. The NTA’s stated goal is a move towards consistent crow fly distance-based fares and standardised discount ratios in line with the Dublin Commuter Zone.

What the January 2027 Fare Reform Means for Passengers

Alongside the technical detail, the public messaging around the change emphasises balancing affordability and investment. Anne Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of the NTA, described the revision as supporting expanded services, increased capacity and enhanced connectivity, while also noting that almost 1.5 million people will continue to benefit from free travel or concessions and that the 50% Young Adult and Student discount is being maintained. The NTA has also indicated that dedicated information campaigns will be undertaken ahead of implementation so that passengers understand what the changes mean for their journeys.

As January 2027 approaches, the fare determination illustrates two directions at once. One is a straightforward uplift in many adult fares and caps after years of reductions and expanded concessions, and the other is a longer-term structural shift towards simpler, more consistent pricing across modes and regions. That shift is visible in the growing role of products like TFI 90, in the preparation for updated ticketing systems including contactless payments, and in the steady standardisation of child and young adult discounts across regions that previously applied very different rules.

Annual fare reviews from 2027 suggest that this will be an evolving framework rather than a one-off adjustment. Future determinations are likely to continue reshaping how fares are calculated and how discounts are applied across Ireland’s public transport network, and passengers who track the detail each year, rather than waiting for the next headline increase, will be best placed to understand what it means for their own journeys.

Learning about public transport in a faraway location using the web is hypothetical until you get there. Thus, it was when I based myself in Vancouver for a first Canadian getaway and went about sampling public transport in British Columbia. At the end of last month, I returned to Canada, this time basing myself in Montreal, adding yet more experiences to my life.

Around Montreal

Though I initially may have thought of Montreal more as a jumping off point for exploring other places, the reality was there were so many parks that leaving the island on which the city is located became the exception rather than the rule. That meant figuring out how to pay for the services that I used while I was out exploring.

First, you need to realise that the Greater Montreal area is divided into three zones. Zone A covers the island on which the city is located, which gives a lot of flexibility for any day ticket that you buy. This can be located onto an Opus card or bought as a paper ticket. It is when I started to venture into Zones B and C that my having a Zone A Opus card showed its limitations, necessitating the buying of paper day tickets, only after a staff member let me in on this state of affairs. My limited time in the area meant that it was not worth getting an Opus Plus card.

All of this starts to hit when you attempt to bus service 747 to get from Montreal’s international airport (YUL) to the city centre. In fact, you are presented with the same machines that you will find in metro, bus and rail stations around the city. This means dealing with a learning curve not long after coming off a long flight, which meant that the assistance that I eventually received was essential. This bus stops in various places, so it helps to pat attention so as not to end up in the wrong place, especially when one version of route terminates at a metro station instead of proceeding the whole way. An added complication was the closure of Rue Berri, which meant a search for the right stops from which to commence a journey to the airport at the end of my stay. You do need to allow for traffic congestion at times, which may have brought to the airport early, not that it bothered me at all.

One good thing is that any day tickets are multi-modal across Exo, REM, STM, STL (Laval) and RTL (Longueuil)services. Of these, I used Exo buses when visiting Mont-Saint-Hilaire, while REM automated rail services got me as far as Deux-Montagnes as well as allowing me to reach Cap-Saint-Jacques. In time, REM is set to serve YUL as well, which could have uses for avoiding any traffic delays. Otherwise, it was mainly STM bus and rail that got me around, with Google Maps helping to guide me as I went.

One thing that one needs to watch is the effect of any seasonal pedestrianisation on bus services. Meeting this on the way to Parc des Rapides was the cause of some confusion before I began to walk the rest of the way instead. On a warm sunny day, that was no affliction, especially when much of the journey was beside the St. Lawrence River. All that needed attention was the presence of passing cyclists until I veered off cycle paths.

Otherwise, I mixed metro train and bus to get me pretty much where I wanted to go. Parc Angrignon, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Parc-nature de la Pointe-aux-Prairies, Parc de la Visitation, Parc-nature du Bois-de-Liesse as well as Parc-nature du Cap-Saint-Jacques all were more than reachable using STM services, while voluntary walking took me by Vieux-Montreal, Vieux-Port, Parc Mont-Royal, Parc La Fontaine, Jardin Botanique and Pont Jacques-Cartier as well. At times, I was tempted by the possibility of hiring out a bike from one of the stands, only for the desire to keep walking to occupy instead. This was unlike Vancouver where the courage would not come, though cycling on another continent and trying out a different side of the road appeals when there are so many off-road cycle paths.

To Ottawa & Gatineau

My accommodation was near the Gare d’autocars de Montréal, making coach enabled day trips a possibility. One of these took me to Ottawa and Gatineau, making use of the services of Orléans Express for reaching Ottawa. The way there was timely and comfortable with much gazing out the window. This was as much about sightseeing as embarking on a journey with purpose. Picking a downtown stop instead of using a Via Rail station around five kilometres away from the city centre proved wise, even if it brought a little unfounded uncertainty about the way back.

My time around Ottawa centred around the Rideau Canal and Parliament Hill before I started to wonder about getting to Gatineau Park. That needed a consultation with OC Transpo staff before I got the day ticket that got me there and back. Both places are in different provinces, one in Ontario and the other in Quebec, with different transport operators. Thus, I needed to make use of STO services for my trip to Gatineau to reach greener shadier surroundings on a warm sunny day; the heat was starting to catch me around Ottawa.

Even with the time all that used up, I still had a relaxing way for my return coach to Montreal, watching Coach Canada and OC Transpo vehicles coming and going. Earlier, it had been a departure operated by Maheux to Montreal that hinted that the stop where I arrived was the one from which I needed to depart again. The gathering of others added to that certainty, while the arrival of the Orléans Express coach on time erased all doubt more effectively than any other means.

While we left on time, our arrival was to be delayed by our needing to await the delayed arrival of a coach from Toronto at Ottawa’s Via Rail station. When that appeared, we filled up even more before an accumulation of cars to collect those arriving by coach or by train meant that getting away from there was further delayed. Adding to all this was ongoing works around the station as well, which made for even more congestion as warned by Via Rail themselves. The holding of connections by Orléans Express continued with the service from Montreal to Quebec City, so this must be a typical experience and one that must add customer confidence too, even if a Toronto to Quebec City journey would be a lengthy affair needing a day of travel (think around twelve hours, and you would have the measure of it).

A Day Trip to Quebec

One thing about coach departures from Montreal is that they can be much more convenient and more frequent than going by train. That especially is the case when travelling between Montreal and Quebec City, which gains a near hourly timetable. Journeys take around three hours, and there can be delays on the way into Quebec City at times. One of them was when I went there, mainly because of a tall ships event in the city. That also curtailed my travel times: early departures on the morning of my intended travel day, Saturday, were fully booked, as were some departures from Quebec on that Sunday evening.

Nevertheless, Sunday morning worked, and I set off seeking a flavour of what is in Quebec. Once I got away from the quays where many strollers slowed me, I could make for the Plains of Abraham, where the British won over the French to change North American history, the Citadel and Old Quebec. Other sights such as the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency had to be left for another time should that come to pass, even if I glimpsed Chutes-de-la-Chaudière from a slow-moving coach on the way to crossing the Saint Lawrence again. The over and back travel was questioned in my mind, though it appears to facilitate the shortest travel times otherwise.

Unlike Montreal, Quebec’s coach and train stations are side by side, which can be handy for becoming provisioned with food and drink before setting off. Another thing is that I discovered that returning to Montreal by train gave me another ten minutes after a coach departure and gained an experience of travelling by intercity rail in Canada. If I had hoped that I would have riverside views that were missed on the coach journey, that was set to be foiled too. Via Rail services also are not known to be on time either, a possible consequence of being a guest passenger service on a busy freight railway.

The train journey was comfortable with customer hosts and a trolley service selling refreshments if I needed them. At times, the train approached junctions so slowly that anyone might have passed it on a bicycle with any aid from battery propulsion. Full speed was never held for very long anywhere, either, particularly given that much of the time was spent on single track railway line with passing places. That was brought home while awaiting a late freight train in the middle of nowhere. The result was a delay of around thirty minutes without any talk of delay repay that you find on British trains. You are forewarned of fifteen to forty-five minutes in advance and things are left at that. Even so, this was my first experience of North American intercity train travel, and I cannot fault it for that.

Much That Was Learned

For various reasons, my time around Quebec and Ontario became more of a learning curve than when I went to British Columbia. In Vancouver, you could charge up a travel card and pay fares using that, without having to pay again if connecting to a service so long as the journey time remained within a certain limit. That has echoes of how the Irish Leap card system works, and there is something to said in its favour too. Even getting to Vancouver Island by ferry and then travelling to and from Victoria by bus was not that taxing, and booking a shuttle to and from Squamish also was not so tricky to do either.

Maybe there is added complexity in the places that I visited during my latest visit to Canada, but their urban transport systems could do with being made easier to use by visitors like myself. After all, finding that I cannot access the OC Transpo website from this side of the Atlantic could fit a certain trend. However, having AI to hand on a mobile device had plenty of uses when navigating urban networks and orienting oneself at the same time. Occasional assistance from staff had to be sought at times, which never was needed during my time in British Columbia.

That also applies to identifying future possibilities like reaching the Laurentides (Laurentian Mountains), even if a 07:30 departure is not the handiest if you fancy getting breakfast in advance of a day trip. There is an afternoon departure which better facilitates relocation during a stay in Quebec, and that might be my choice if there ever was a return to this part of the world. Then, I would check out what is on offer from Galland Laurentides. Speaking of an escapade that overnights in different place, the luggage limits on Via Rail services were constraining enough to make me abandon thoughts of a counterpart that divided time between Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec, which is something to consider should one be thinking of moving around, for there are ample reasons for doing so. Intriguingly, Amtrak is much more generous in this regard, which makes a combined trip to Seattle and Portland (Oregon) all the more feasible.

Bus passengers across the Liverpool City Region are being asked to check their timetables carefully this autumn, as two changes land at the same time. The first is a routine reversion from summer timetables back to normal service patterns across several Liverpool routes. The second, and by far the larger, is the start of a genuinely new way of running buses in the region, beginning in St Helens from Sunday, the 6^th of September 2026.

For readers unfamiliar with the background, bus services in the Liverpool City Region have operated under a deregulated model since the 1980’s, with private operators such as Arriva and Stagecoach competing for passengers on commercial terms. That arrangement is now being unwound in stages, and St Helens becomes the first place in the region to see its network brought back under public control, planned and specified by Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority rather than by competing companies.

General Autumn Service Changes

Summer Timetables Revert Across Liverpool

Separately from the St Helens changeover, several Liverpool routes are reverting from their summer timetables to normal service patterns, and the timing of this reversion coincides closely with the St Helens launch, which makes it easy to confuse the two changes. Passengers using the 10, 10A, 10B and 10S corridor between Liverpool and St Helens, Huyton or Prescot should pay particular attention here, since this corridor sits at the overlap between both changes.

Stagecoach route 10A continues on its summer timetable until its last service on the 5^th of September 2026, after which the route is taken under public control. Arriva routes 10 and 10A follow the same summer timetable until the same date, after which the 10 and 10A will run on a separate timetable from the 10B and 10S. Passengers accustomed to treating this group of services as a single combined timetable will need to check the new bus changes information before travelling, since that combined pattern no longer applies from the 6^th of September.

Route 10B sees its Monday to Friday daytime service increased to about every 10 minutes as times return to the pre-summer pattern, with Saturday and Sunday services unchanged. Route 10S journeys, which had not been operating during the summer timetable period, are being reinstated in full.

Elsewhere in Liverpool, the pattern is largely one of frequencies and times reverting to what they were before the summer schedule took effect, with weekend services generally unaffected throughout. On the 12 and 13 Stockbridge Village circulars, Monday to Friday and Saturday daytime frequencies return to about every 15 minutes on each route, giving a combined frequency of roughly seven to eight minutes. The 15 between Liverpool and Huyton returns to a daytime frequency of about every 10 minutes, and the 26 and 27 Sheil Road circulars each return to a Monday to Friday daytime frequency of about every 10 minutes.

The 52, 52A and 52E group serving Netherton, Old Roan and Bootle returns to a combined daytime frequency of about every 10 minutes, while the 61, 61A and 61B between Bootle and Aigburth Vale, along with the 62 between Allerton, Penny Lane and Bootle North Park, all revert to their pre-summer Monday to Friday patterns. The 75 between Liverpool and Halewood returns to its pre-summer daytime frequency and times, with weekend services unchanged throughout.

The 79 and 79C corridor between Liverpool and Halewood or Murdishaw sees route 79 return to its pre-summer timetable with a daytime frequency increased to about every seven to eight minutes, while route 79C is unaffected. The 86 group linking Liverpool with Liverpool South Parkway, Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Childwall also reverts across its Arriva and Stagecoach variants, with the Arriva 86A regaining its Woodend Avenue, Gaskill Road extension on some journeys. Finally, the 500 between Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Liverpool sees its Monday to Friday and Saturday daytime service reduced to about every 30 minutes as it returns to the pre-summer pattern, with Sunday services unchanged.

School Service Adjustments

Some school services are affected from the 30^th of August 2026, ahead of the wider changes described above. For Birkenhead School and High School Academy, the afternoon 701 and 702 journeys now depart four minutes later, at 1604, with all other journeys unaffected. At St Anselm’s College, the same 701 and 702 afternoon journeys are similarly retimed to depart at 1604, and the 612 route is being extended to and from Eastham Village.

For Hilbre High School, all afternoon journeys are retimed to run four to five minutes later throughout, while morning journeys remain unaffected. These are minor adjustments in isolation, but worth noting for any family relying on a specific departure time for the school run.

St Helens Changes

St Helens Becomes the First Publicly Controlled Network

Merseytravel describes the 6^th of September as the start of a new era for buses in the region, and the scale of the preparation behind that claim is considerable. New vehicles have been purchased, depots upgraded and the first phase of the network readied, all while the authority has tried to keep the changeover as unobtrusive as possible for everyday passengers. Familiar stops and many established routes remain in place, even as the operating model behind them changes entirely.

That balance between continuity and reform runs through the whole St Helens rollout. Merseytravel has been explicit that the network and stops people rely on every day will continue to work much as before, with improvements introduced area by area rather than as a single disruptive overhaul. Wirral is due to follow in October 2026, with Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton expected to transition by the end of 2027, so St Helens is best understood as the opening stage of a much longer programme rather than an isolated local change.

The stated purpose of bringing buses back under public control is to replace a system of competing operators with a single network planned around passengers rather than commercial viability. According to Merseytravel, this allows the public authorities to set consistent standards for cleanliness, safety and reliability, to invest in newer buses and to move the region gradually towards a simpler, capped fare system. It is a significant shift in principle, even where the day-to-day experience of catching a bus in St Helens looks little different at first glance.

Part of that shift is visible in the new low-emission buses being introduced alongside the changeover. Merseytravel describes these as owned by the people of the Liverpool City Region and designed around passenger needs, with USB charging points, more comfortable seating, additional space for wheelchairs and prams and audiovisual announcement technology all included as standard. They join a wider pattern of transport investment in the region, sitting alongside newly electrified buses already introduced elsewhere and ongoing renewal of the Merseyrail fleet.

Service Improvements From Day One

From the first day of the publicly run St Helens network, several practical improvements are promised. Routes that had run only every two hours are being increased to hourly, more weekend services are being introduced, and some routes are being extended specifically to improve access to hospitals and railway stations, addressing gaps that had persisted under the old commercial model.

The most visible new addition is the X3, a limited-stop express service linking St Helens town centre directly with Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Merseytravel presents this as making airport journeys quicker and more straightforward, whether passengers are travelling for work, leisure or onward connections. Alongside it, a new early morning express journey to Southport is being introduced, with a corresponding evening return, giving St Helens residents a more direct option for that coastal journey than previously existed.

Several existing routes are being extended or strengthened as part of the same package. The 33 is being extended to Waterside Village and Lowfield Lane, while the 35 is being extended to Bold during the daytime and will operate between Gillars Green and St Helens Junction in the evenings and on Sundays. The 34 and 34A are gaining an increased frequency, with evening journeys extended to Leigh, and a new 612 service is replacing the old service 20 to create new links across the borough. Bigger buses are also being introduced on the 89, 320 and 352 services to accommodate demand.

Further improvements are planned for access to Edge Hill University and Ormskirk, as well as St Helens Cemetery, alongside an improved frequency around Rainford Junction and revisions to services in Eccleston to link with Knowsley Road. Evening and Sunday journeys are being introduced on the route that becomes the 322, addressing a gap that will be familiar to anyone who has tried to travel across the borough outside peak hours.

A Simpler Route Numbering System

One of the less glamorous but genuinely useful changes is a wholesale renumbering of St Helens routes, intended to remove duplicate numbers and create a simpler network across the whole Liverpool City Region. Under the new scheme, the 12 becomes the 23, the 22 becomes the 322, the 37 becomes the 25 and the 60 becomes the 24. The 152 is split into the 37, 37A and X37, while the 153 becomes the 25A.

The full St Helens timetable from the 6th of September covers a substantial network. It includes the 10 and 10A between Liverpool and St Helens, the 23 town centre circular, the 24 to Windle Hall Drive, the 25 and 25A to Eccleston, the 28 Blackbrook circular and the 30 linking Widnes, St Helens and Laffak. Also included are the 31 to Parr, the 32 and 32A serving Clinkham Wood, Sutton Manor and Clock Face, the 33 to Thatto Heath and Sutton Heath, the 34 and 34A to Leigh and Newton-le-Willows and the 35 between Gillars Green Drive and St Helens Junction.

The remainder of the network extends further afield. The 37, 37A and X37 serve Rainford, Ormskirk and Southport, the 38 and 38A run the Rainford circular, and the 39 connects to Newton-le-Willows station. The 61 links Liverpool city centre with Rainhill and Halton Hospital, while the 89 runs to Liverpool John Lennon Airport and the 99 serves the Whiston and Prescot circular. Further routes cover the 137 to Billinge, the 156 linking Garswood, St Helens and Lea Green, the 157 between Rainford and Ashton-in-Makerfield, the 168 to Liverpool South Parkway, the 289 to Rainhill and Prescot and the 297 to Prescot and Kirkby. The network is completed by the 312 between Ormskirk and Rainford, the 320 and 352 to Ashton-in-Makerfield and Wigan, the 322 and 329 to Warrington, the 360 linking Warrington, Newton-le-Willows and Wigan, the 612 to Wigan and the 920, 921 and 922 industrial estate services, alongside the X3 airport express. Readers wanting the exact timings for any individual route are best served by consulting the new timetables published by Merseytravel, rather than relying on a general summary such as this one.

Ticketing Changes Passengers Need to Understand

Ticketing is where the practical impact of the changeover will be felt most immediately, and it is worth checking carefully if you travel regularly in the St Helens area. From the 6^th of September 2026, operator-only tickets, including those issued by Stagecoach and Arriva, will no longer be valid on most bus services in St Helens. Passengers will instead need a Metro ticket, a multi-operator ticket or one of the new passes.

For an occasional single journey, the simplest option is the capped £2 fare, payable on board by cash, card or contactless device. Passengers wanting all-day travel can buy a Solo ticket from the driver, from a Merseytravel Centre or through the Metro-Smart portal, while under-19s can buy a MyTicket for £2.20 covering unlimited bus travel for the day. Regular travellers are advised to pick up a MetroCard, available from PayPoint stores, Merseytravel Centres and rail stations for a £1 activation charge, and to load a Solo ticket onto it before travelling. Anyone buying tickets online should allow 24 to 36 hours for activation, since this is not an instant process.

Concessionary travel is unaffected by the changeover. Merseytravel over-60’s passes and national concessionary bus passes continue to be accepted exactly as before. Looking further ahead, fare-capped tap-and-go ticketing is due to be introduced once the full City Region network has transitioned to public control in autumn 2027, which should remove much of the current complexity around which ticket suits which journey.

There is also a transitional window for anyone still holding operator-only tickets. Daily passes remain valid until the 7^th of September, weekly passes until the 13^th of September and monthly or annual passes until the 5^th of October, giving passengers a reasonable grace period to use up what they already hold before switching entirely to the new system. Full details of the ticketing changes are available from Merseytravel.

Finding Out More Before Travelling

Merseytravel has organised a series of local information events for anyone who wants to discuss the St Helens changes in person rather than reading about them online. These include the Festival of Glass on Friday, the 28^th of August, from 10:00 to 15:00 and the Rainhill Farmers Market on Saturday, the 5^th of September, from 09:00 to 13:00.

Between the summer timetable reversions across Liverpool and the wholesale changeover in St Helens, this is not a straightforward week for bus passengers anywhere in the region, and the safest approach is to check before travelling rather than assume a familiar route still runs as it did the week before.

Why the St Helens Changeover Matters Beyond St Helens

The most important date to remember from all of this is Sunday, the 6^th of September 2026, when St Helens becomes the first part of the Liverpool City Region to operate under public control since deregulation in the 1980’s. What happens there over the following weeks will matter well beyond the borough itself, since it is effectively a working pilot for the model that Wirral, Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton are all due to adopt over the following year or so.

Whether the promised improvements in frequency, reliability and simplified fares are delivered as described will shape how much confidence passengers elsewhere in the region place in the rest of the rollout. For now, the practical advice for anyone travelling in or through St Helens, or on the affected Liverpool routes, is the same: check the timetable, check the ticket and do not assume that what worked last week still applies.