A NEW STRUCTURE of ticket pricing for Iarnród Éireann’s intercity rail services comes into effect today.

The increases follow the formal approval of the new fares by the National Transport Authority last month.

The new regime sees 143 fare bands increasing by up to 13 per cent – though another 66 fare bands will see prices fall by up to 29 per cent. Another 15 bands will be unchanged.

The new fares are being rolled out as part of a reform of the ticketing system which sees three new basic ticket types for InterCity travelling: single, day return, and open return.

Fares will now be set according to route types, with three different ticketing grades – ‘Express’, ‘Economy 1′ and ‘Economy 2′ – depending on the speed of the particular train making the journey.

The end result is that the new model should ensure customers are not charged higher prices for shorter journeys, and that passengers taking express services will pay higher fares than those opting for slower travel.

Iarnród Éireann says the fares seeing the highest increase were those which were “most anomalous in distance pricing” under the new model, and that fares to Galway and Rosslare were being cut on a similar basis so that they were closer to the respective fares for Sligo and Waterford.

For fares over €25, today’s increases were the first revisions in over three years.

Discounted fares are still available for students, children, and passengers booking their travel in advance through irishrail.ie.

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