According to data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the number of passenger journeys on public transport at the end of March was below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with public transport journeys in the week that started on 27 March 2022 being 75% of the number in early March of 2020, before the pandemic began.
Rail And Bus Journeys
In a statement published on its website, the CSO said that the number of bus journeys in Dublin for week that started on 27 March 2022 was 76% of the level in early March 2020, and that this compared with 78% for bus journeys outside of Dublin and 70% for rail journeys.
The CSO noted that rail data includes passenger journeys on Intercity and DART services.
Luas Journeys
Meanwhile, Luas journeys increased by 83% between the start of January and the end of the quarter, but Luas journeys in the 13th week of this year were below pre-pandemic levels, with the number of journeys in the 13th week of this year being 65% of the level for the same week in 2019 for the Luas red line and 61% for the Luas green line, according to the statement published on the CSO's website.
Airport Passenger Data
The statement published on the CSO's website also said that COVID-19 restrictions led to a sharp decrease in the number of passengers that were handled by Irish airports.
The number of passengers in Dublin Airport in March of this year was close to 17 times higher than in March of last year, but 75% of the level seen in the same month in 2019, with there being 1,816,123 passengers in March of 2022 and 2,432,195 in pre-pandemic March of 2019, according to the statement published on the CSO’s website.
Additionally, the statement published on the CSO's website noted that Ireland West Airport Knock was closed from April to June of 2020 and from February to May of 2021, and that Ireland West Airport Knock data for March of this year was not available at the time of the publication of the statement, and that Cork Airport was closed in October of 2021.
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