Minister for Transport Martin Cullen said today he hoped an integrated ticketing system would be in place in Dublin next year.
Mr Cullen was speaking at the unveiling of the Luas smartcard - a credit card-sized ticket that can be topped-up, is similar to pay-as-you-go phones, and can help reduce queues at ticket machines.
Mr Cullen said his objective was to see the roll-out of a single ticket for all public transport services, starting as early as next year.
"Having the option of using a common ticket for the train, bus and Luas makes travelling to your destination that bit easier," he said.
"To this end, I will be bringing together management teams from Luas, Dublin Bus, larnród Éireann, Bus Éireann and private operators to make integrated ticketing a reality."
The new Luas smartcard is the second phase of the integrated ticketing scheme being developed by the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), in line with the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government.
The first phase was rolled out on Morton's coaches, and close to 30 per cent of all journeys on Morton's services are now on smartcards.