THE NATIONAL TRANSPORT Authority (NTA) has published its yearly Heavy Rail Census for 2013.

The census records information about all passenger boardings and alightings at every station on every service one day a year. This year it was 14 November a “representative” day unaffected by traditional holiday periods, and when all places of work and education are in full session.

Here’s a snapshot of a typical day on Ireland’s rail transport system:

• Approximately 123,500 journeys were taken across some 660 services;
• Nearly 1 in 2 rail passenger journeys in the State is taken on the DART;
• A further third of all rail journeys is taken on Commuter services;
• 83% of all journeys are taken in the Greater Dublin Area;
• Approximately 1,300 more passengers boarded at Heuston in 2013 than in 2012;
• The ten busiest stations in Ireland accounted for nearly half (46%) of all passenger movements on the network;
• Connolly, Pearse, Heuston and Tara remain the busiest stations in the country;
• Kent station, in Cork, is the only non-GDA station to feature in the top ten list of busiest stations (at number 6, unchanged from 2012);
• The busiest train in the country that day – with 1,444 passengers – was the 08:00 DART from Greystones to Malahide.

Full results of the survey can be found here.

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