Dublin runs on one card. Leap taps you onto the bus, the tram, and the train, and — unusually for a European capital — a single fare of €2 covers 90 minutes across all three. The catch is the one trip every visitor actually needs: there’s no train from the airport, just buses, and the fast ones cost more than everything else you’ll ride.
The basics
Three networks do the work:
- Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland run the city’s bus routes between them, under contract to Transport for Ireland (TFI), the state body that sets fares and coordinates the lot.
- Luas is the tram network, two lines that don’t connect to each other except by walking through the city centre: the Red Line (Tallaght and Saggart to The Point, in the Docklands) and the Green Line (Bride’s Glen to Broombridge).
- The DART is the coastal commuter train, running along Dublin Bay from the northside to the southside, alongside slower Iarnród Éireann commuter rail lines further out.
There’s no metro yet. A driverless line to the airport (MetroLink) got its Railway Order approved in October 2025, but it’s only just moving into procurement — construction hasn’t started, so don’t plan around it.
How to pay
Get a TFI Leap Card — the tap-and-go card that works across Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas, and DART/commuter rail. Buy and top it up at Leap agents (newsagents and convenience stores around the city, including at both airport terminals), at Luas and Irish Rail ticket machines, at post offices, or through the TFI Leap Top-Up phone app.
Tap the card reader when you board a bus, at the platform validator before a Luas tram, or at the yellow validator on a DART/rail platform. There’s no dedicated Leap reader gate on buses or Luas — it’s proof-of-payment, and inspectors do check.
No contactless bank cards yet. Ireland’s transport authority is building a new account-based ticketing system that will eventually let you tap a bank card or phone, but that’s not landing until 2028, starting with Luas and city buses. For now, Leap (or cash on the bus) is what you’ve got.
Fares
Dublin’s fares got a lot simpler in 2024 with the TFI 90-minute fare: one tap, one price, unlimited transfers between bus, Luas, and DART for 90 minutes, anywhere within Zone 1 (which covers the city and inner suburbs).
| 90-minute fare | Daily cap | Weekly cap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | €2.00 | €6.00 | €24.00 |
| Young Adult / Student (19–25, or with a Student Leap Card) | €1.00 | €3.00 | €12.00 |
| Child | €0.65 | €1.95 | €7.80 |
As with Portland-style capping, you don’t need to plan ahead — keep tapping the same Leap Card and it stops charging you once you hit the daily or weekly cap.
No Leap Card? You can pay cash to a Dublin Bus driver directly (exact change), but it costs more: a Short Fare is €1.70, a Long Fare is €2.60. Cash isn’t accepted on Luas or DART — you need a ticket from a machine or a tapped Leap Card.
Getting from the airport
There’s no train to Dublin Airport, so you’re choosing between a cheap slow bus and a pricier fast one:
- Regular TFI bus routes (16, 19, 24, 33a, 41, 101, 102, 109A) stop at the airport just like any other city bus, run by Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, or Bus Éireann. Tap your Leap Card for the normal fare — this is the cheapest way in, though it’s a regular bus route, not an express.
- Dublin Express runs route 782 into the city centre (with stops including Heuston Station, Temple Bar, and O’Connell Street) as often as every 7½ minutes at peak times and up to every 15 minutes the rest of the day. Fares start at €9 one-way booked online; the operator states a journey time of “as little as 14 minutes” via the Dublin Port Tunnel.
- Aircoach runs routes 700 and 700X to the city centre 24 hours a day, up to every 15 minutes; a third route, 702, reaches Ballsbridge, Booterstown, Blackrock, and Dalkey but only hourly at peak times. Fares start at €6 one-way booked online, and the buses take contactless bank cards and Apple/Google Pay on board.
Neither Aircoach nor Dublin Express fares are covered by your Leap Card or its daily cap — they’re separate private services with their own tickets.
Apps to download
- TFI Live — the official app for real-time bus, Luas, and DART departures, plus door-to-door journey planning across the whole network.
- TFI Leap Top-Up — load money onto your Leap Card from your phone (NFC-enabled Android, or iPhone 7 and later) instead of hunting for a shop or machine.
- Google Maps or Apple Maps — solid for general trip planning around the city.
When it runs
Weekday DART service runs every 10 minutes throughout the day. Dublin Bus and Luas frequencies vary a lot by route and line — check TFI Live for your specific trip.
Late at night, the regular network mostly stops, and Nitelink takes over: twelve bus routes fan out from the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights only, run at a flat Leap fare of €2.40 adult (€1.20 young adult/student).
Accessibility
TFI publishes accessibility information and a booking line for assistance across bus, Luas, DART, and taxi services — call the TFI Contact Centre in advance if you need it arranged (0818 294 015, or +353 1 575 6110 from outside Ireland). Independent Travel Support, a training programme for people who want help learning a route, is available in Dublin as well as Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford.
Etiquette & local quirks
- Tap on every time, including transfers between different buses or between bus and rail — there’s no single tap that covers a whole multi-leg trip automatically; the 90-minute window is what stitches it together.
- The Red and Green Luas lines don’t physically connect — if your trip needs both, you’ll walk between stops in the city centre (commonly via O’Connell Street or through the Docklands, depending on where you’re headed).
- Airport buses and regular city buses share the same pickup area in bus zones outside the terminals — double-check the route number before boarding, since a cheap TFI bus and a pricier Aircoach or Dublin Express coach can stop close together.
Good to know
- Fare evasion is enforced with real fines: riding without a valid tap or ticket can mean a €100 penalty on the spot, on top of the fare you owe. Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann reduce that to €50, and Luas to €45, if you pay within the early-payment window — but it’s not a small “oops” fee.
- MetroLink, the airport metro, is still years off. The government approved its Railway Order in October 2025, but as of this writing the project is only moving into procurement — there’s no construction timeline for riders to plan around yet.
- Contactless bank-card payment is coming, eventually — Ireland’s national ticketing overhaul is aiming for 2028 on Luas and city buses. Until then, get a Leap Card.