13 Nitelink routes, several DART lines and addtional late-night Luas trams will run over the festive season along with regular late-night routes.

Dublin Bus have announced the timetable of the Nitelink service this Christmas, working alongside the recently announced late-night DART services.

According to Dublin Bus, passengers can expect a full Nitelink timetable service this year. Starting on December 14, the service will operate on on routes 7n, 29n, 31n, 33n, 42n, 46n, 49n, 69n, 70n, 77n, 84n and 88n, arriving hourly. The temporary 40n will also run every 30 minutes from 00:00 to 04:00 servicing Westmoreland Street, Phibsboro, Ballymun Road, Ballymun, Poppintree, Charlestown, Finglas West and Finglas South.

The service will first operate from December 14 to December 17. The Nitelink bus routes will continue from 21 December to 23 December. There will be no service running on Christmas Day. Nitelink services will resume from 30 December to 31 December. There will be no service on New Year’s Day.

The 10 regular 24-hour buses will continue to operate as normal over Christmas.

In September, Transport For Ireland (TFI) announced that lower fares will be charged on Nitelink Bus services across Dublin. The adult fare for Nitelink is now three euro via cash and 2.40 euros via Leap card. The student and young adult rates is three euro via cash and 1.40 euros via Leap card.

Late-night DARTs

Irish Rail have also announced that extra services on DARTs and Commuters will operate on Friday and Saturday nights throughout December, with the exception of Christmas Eve.

DARTs will run at 00:30 and 01:30 from Pearse serving all stations to Howth, 00:30 and 01:30 from Connolly serving all stations to Greystones, and 00:40 and 01:40 from Pearse serving Tara St, Connolly and all stations from Howth Junction to Dundalk.

More DARTs will run at 00:20 and 02:00 from Pearse serving all stations to Maynooth, and 23:50 and 01:50 from Pearse serving all stations to Drumcondra, and all stations from ParkWest to Kildare.

On New Year’s Eve, DARTs will run at 01:30 and 02:30 from Pearse serving all stations to Howth, 01:30 and 02:30 from Connolly serving all stations to Greystones and 01:40 and 02:40 from Pearse serving Tara St, Connolly, and Howth Junction.

They will also run at 01:20 and 03:00 from Pearse serving all stations to Maynooth, 00:50 and 02:50 from Pearse serving all stations to Drumcondra, and all stations from ParkWest to Kildare.

Late-night Luas

Although TFI have previously ruled out a 24-hour Luas for the near future, they have announced additional Luas trams for the Christmas period. Luas will operate additional daytime trams on December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18. They willl also operate additional nighttime trams on December 9, 10, 16, 17 and 31.

Late-night transport

These additional services are essential to get people home safely over the festive period. A 2020 report found that 55 per cent of women do not feel safe using public transport at night. 34 per cent said that their concerns about safety travelling at night has prevented them from going out completely.

Currently, only 29 per cent of registered taxi drivers operate on Friday and Saturday nights. There are currently 10,000 taxis in Dublin according to the NTA. This is an increase in only 32 taxis since the end of 2021. In September, taxi fares increased by 12 per cent across all services.

Elsewhere on District: Merchy Christmas is returning to The Grand Social this December