Public transport to finish early on Christmas Eve ahead of reduced festive period timetables

Weather for Christmas Day is forecast to be breezy and mostly cloudy, with some rain or drizzle in the south

File photograph: Festive partygoers in fancy dress chill out on board a Nitelink bus during a previous photocall to publicise Christmas services
File photograph: Festive partygoers in fancy dress chill out on board a Nitelink bus during a previous photocall to publicise Christmas services

There will be no public transport running on Christmas Day, with final services finishing at between 8 and 9pm on Christmas Eve.

As the festive period gets into full swing, transport operators have announced reduced timetables and operating hours over the coming days.

For commuters who use Dublin Bus, the service will finish at 9pm on December 24th, while there will be no service on Christmas Day.

Sunday services will operate on St Stephen’s Day, commencing at 9am, while Saturday timetables will be in operation from December 27th until 30th.

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On New Year’s Eve, it will be a Sunday timetable, as will New Year’s Day. Regular service will resume on January 2nd.

Bus Éireann has a similar system in operation for over the Christmas and New Year period.

Christmas Eve services will finish at 9pm, there will be no service on Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day will be a Sunday service commencing at 9am.

It will be regular service on December 27th until the 30th. Saturday service will be carried out on New Year’s Eve and there will be a Sunday service on New Year’s Day and January 2nd, before normal service resumes.

Go Ahead will also operate in this manner, though its service on New Year’s Eve will have “enhancements” after 6pm to cater for the crowds who intend to celebrate the new year.

Regular service on Go Ahead transport will resume from January 2nd.

For rail users, there will be no trains or Darts operating on Christmas Day or St Stephen’s Day. On Wednesday, December 27th, it will be a Saturday service on DART and Commuter, with a revised schedule on Intercity routes.

A Saturday service will operate from the 28th until the 30th, with some “minor alterations”.

On New Year’s Eve, it will be a normal Sunday schedule on Dart and commuter lines until 10pm, after which late night trains will run.

For intercity services, all Sunday services will operate with exception of the 9pm Heuston to Cork, 8.30pm Heuston to Galway, 7.25pm Heuston to Limerick and 6.20pm Limerick to Heuston, which are cancelled.

There will be Sunday services on New Year’s Day and normal schedules resume from January 2nd.

For the Luas, services will end at 8pm on Christmas Eve, and there will be no Luases running on Christmas Day.

They will operate on a Sunday schedule on St Stephen’s Day, but will not start until 9am. Normal Sunday timetables will operate from December 27th until 30th.

New Year’s Eve will operate on a Saturday timetable, plus night Luas services to cater for those celebrating the festivities in Dublin city centre. Sunday services will occur on New Year’s Day and normal services will resume from January 2nd.

Meanwhile, the weather for Christmas Day is forecast to be breezy and mostly cloudy, with some rain or drizzle in the south during the morning and afternoon. It will be cold overnight, with temperatures being between 0 and 4 degrees.

St Stephen’s Day, meanwhile, will be cool and mostly dry with sunny spells.

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Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers

Shauna Bowers is Health Correspondent of The Irish Times