New Leap Card Fare Zones Introduced for Irish Rail Services Around Dublin

New Leap Card Zones

Transport for Ireland (TFI) has introduced new Leap fare zones for Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail services within a 50km radius of Dublin city centre. The update is designed to simplify fares for commuters and standardise pricing across the public transport system.

Under the new system, Irish Rail journeys within the designated 50km area are divided into four zonal bands:

  • Short Hop Zone — this zone stays the same as before and covers a radius of about 23km from Dublin. It includes areas like Howth, Bray, Maynooth, Greystones, and Hazelhatch.

  • Green Zone — this picks up just beyond the Short Hop boundary, generally covering trips from 23km to 35km from the city. Key stations here include Kilcock, Sallins & Naas, Balbriggan, and Wicklow.

  • Orange Zone: — for trips roughly 35km to 45km from Dublin. This includes larger commuter towns like Drogheda, Portarlington, Arklow, and Newbridge.

  • Blue Zone — the outermost Leap zone, spanning areas just inside the 50km limit. This includes places like Enfield, Monasterevin, Gorey, and Mullingar (for some services). These areas are often just outside the reach of Dublin's older fare boundaries and now benefit from more consistent pricing.

Each zone determines the fare level based on the distance traveled. Leap Card users will benefit from lower fares than cash payments, with further savings when using the TFI 90-Minute Fare — which allows free transfers between Dublin Bus, Luas and most DART and Commuter Rail services within a 90-minute window.

Here’s a summary of Leap Card fares between zones:

  • Within the same zone: €1.90 (Short Hop) up to around €2.50 (outer zones)

  • Between adjacent zones: Around €2.50–€3.50

  • Across multiple zones: Up to €4.50, depending on distance

These changes aim to make fare structures easier to understand, support fare integration between transport modes, and provide fairer pricing for commuters living outside central Dublin.

You can check which zone your local station is in, and find your exact fare, over on the Transport for Ireland website.

DART, DevelopmentMatt Walsh