According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of passenger journeys on buses in Dublin during the week that started on 20 February of this year was 10% higher than the number taken during the same week in 2019 – before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Meanwhile, outside of Dublin that week, the number of bus journeys during the week that started on 20 February of this year was 31% higher than the figure recorded for the same week in 2019, according to the CSO.
Luas And Rail Journeys
In a statement published on its website, the CSO noted that the number of rail journeys during the week that started on 20 February 2023 was lower than pre-pandemic levels, while the number of Luas journeys in the week that started on 20 February of this year was higher than the level recorded during the same week in 2019.
The CSO noted that no comparable rail data is available for 2019, and that rail data includes passenger journeys on InterCity and DART services.
Airport Passenger Data
Additionally, the statement published on CSO.ie noted that Covid-19 restrictions led to a sharp decrease in the number of passengers who were handled by Irish airports.
The number of passengers in Dublin Airport in February of this year was close to double that of February of last year – and 2% higher than the level seen in the same month in 2019 – with 2,336,794 passengers being handled by Dublin, Cork and Knock airports last month, compared to 2,271,760 in January 2019, according to the statement published on CSO.ie, which also noted that Dublin Airport specifically handled 2,038,737 passengers last month, which compares to 1,993,325 during the same month in 2019.
Additionally, the same statement noted that Ireland West Airport Knock was closed from April to June 2020 and from February to May 2021, Cork Airport was closed in October 2021, and Kerry and Shannon data was not available at the time of the publication of the statement.
Read More: Bus Journeys In Dublin Exceeded Pre-Pandemic Levels In January
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