The National Transport Authority (NTA) has said additional services will be put in place from next weekend to facilitate late-night shopping.
The NTA said it plans to make as much of its bus fleet available as possible in the lead up to Christmas, while vehicle capacity has also increased in line with Level 3 restrictions.
CEO of the NTA Anne Graham encouraged people to plan their travel and prebook inter-city journeys, as vehicles continue to operate at reduced capacity.
“The capacity on each vehicle is now increased to 50 per cent where it was 25 per cent in Level 5,” Ms Graham said.
There will be more people obviously going to restaurants and pubs
“But we’re also looking to have additional services available, particularly in the evening because we see that retail hours will be increased in the evening time - there will be more people obviously going to restaurants and pubs.”
“We will have every vehicle, as much vehicles as we can possibly put out in the lead up to the Christmas period,” Ms Graham added.
“What we would encourage customers to do is to plan their trip, particularly if they are travelling down the country, and to book ahead if at all possible for their long distance trip.”
Irish Rail has also asked anyone intending to use inter-city services to book in advance to ensure social distancing guidelines are met.
Taxis
It comes as the wearing of face masks was made compulsory in taxis on Monday, after a new regulation was signed into law by the Health Minister.
Wendy Thompson of the NTA said the move brings taxis in line with all other forms of public transport.
“It became mandatory by law under the health regulations to wear face coverings on taxis, hackneys and limousines,” she said.
“Now drivers were always able to refuse passengers who weren’t wearing face masks, but this puts it on a slightly different footing along with all other public transport.
“It really puts both the driver and the passenger at ease. We have to protect our drivers and our passengers.”
