Most Dubliners chose to travel on Dublin Bus in 2016 according to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Over 125 million bus journeys were taken over the course of the twelve months. The number of bus journeys taken in 2016 jumped 2.7 percent from 2015.

November was the most popular month for Dublin Bus, with 11,318,902 journeys taken. A sharp decrease in Dublin Bus journeys was seen in September 2016. That coincided with the bus strikes which plagued the capital across five days in September.

Rail journeys in 2016 increased to just shy of 43 million, up from just over 39.5 million the previous year. This gave a total increase of 7.96 percent.

While the total number of journeys taken across all Irish Rail services (including DART and commuter services) took a hit in 2013, the total number of journeys have increased by an average of 5.2 percent per year since.

Overall, 44.3 percent of all rail journeys taken in 2016 were on the DART. DART journeys increased to nearly 19 million in 2016, an increase of 10.7 percent from 2015. DART journeys also increased dramatically in 2015, up 7.5 percent from the previous year.

The only form of public transport in Dublin that did not see an increase in 2016 was the Luas. There was a decrease of over 500,000 journeys.

This decrease of 1.65 percent was uncharacteristic for the Luas as journeys had increased year on year from 2012 to 2015.

The Red Line proved to be more popular with commuters, with 22.4 percent more journeys taken on the Red Line than the Green Line in 2016.

Like Dublin Bus, the Luas was also hit by twelve days of industrial action in 2016. This can be seen in the sharp decrease in the amount of journeys taken on the Red Line between April and June. The strike did not, however, seem to have as dramatic an effect on the Green Line, with journeys increasing between May and June despite several strike days.

These figures, announced last week as part of the CSO’s annual travel omnibus, are released as further transport strikes threaten to leave commuters stranded. Iarnród Éireann strikes are set to affect more than 150,000 daily commuters amid rows over pay. Rail workers are looking for 11 percent pay increases over the next three years.

The first strike took place on Wednesday 1st November, with further strikes planned for the 7th, 14th and 23rd of November, as well as the 8th of December.

Reports in Irish newspapers recently suggested that workers may also strike on Christmas Eve.

By Louise Burne