Getting Around Dublin: DART Coastal Trains, Luas Trams, Buses and TFI Leap Card

Inside the canal ring, walking is almost always the fastest way to move between sights: Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St Stephen's Green, and the River Liffey bridges all sit within fifteen minutes of one another on flat pavements. When heading further west to Kilmainham Gaol and Phoenix Park or out to the coast along Dublin Bay, three rail and road networks coordinated by Transport for Ireland (TFI) cover the metropolitan area: DART suburban trains, Luas light rail trams, and Dublin Bus / Go-Ahead Ireland city buses.

How the TFI Leap Card and TFI 90 Minute Fare work

Before boarding public transport in Dublin, understand one crucial difference from London or Sydney: Dublin Bus, Luas trams, and DART gates do not yet support tap-on, tap-off bank card payments across the network (contactless bank card readers are only slowly rolling out under the BusConnects programme; buses otherwise accept only a Leap Card, exact coins without change, or QR tickets in the TFI Go app). To avoid carrying heavy coins and to pay roughly 30 percent less than cash fares, pick up a rechargeable TFI Leap Card (or a pre-loaded Leap Visitor Card valid for 1, 3, or 7 days) at the WHSmith and Wrights convenience shops in Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, at Connolly or Heuston stations, or at hundreds of Centra and Spar newsagents across the city.

With a standard TFI Leap Card, the TFI 90 Minute Fare automatically applies: you can transfer freely between Dublin Bus, Luas trams, and DART or commuter rail within the Dublin Short Hop Zone for no extra charge as long as you tap onto your last vehicle within 90 minutes of your first tap. Daily and weekly Leap fare caps prevent you from overpaying.

DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) along Dublin Bay

Inaugurated in July 1984 along Ireland's oldest railway corridor (the 1834 Dublin and Kingstown Railway), the electrified green DART train sweeps around the entire crescent of Dublin Bay from Malahide and Howth in the north to Bray and Greystones in County Wicklow to the south. In the city centre, DART trains stop at three elevated stations within walking distance of major sights: Dublin Connolly (Northside), Tara Street (just south of Butt Bridge on the Liffey), and Dublin Pearse (on Westland Row behind Trinity College and Merrion Square). Always tap your Leap Card at the station entry barriers before boarding and tap out at the exit barriers when leaving your destination station.

Luas light rail: Red Line and Green Line

Opened in 2004 and expanded with the Cross City link in December 2017, the Luas (the Irish word for speed) operates two intersecting tram lines:

• Luas Red Line (east to west): Runs along the north bank of the Liffey from The Point (3Arena in the Docklands) and Connolly down Abbey Street, past the Four Courts, Smithfield, and Museum (National Museum at Collins Barracks) to Heuston Station, and onward past St James's Hospital to Tallaght and Saggart.
• Luas Green Line (north to south): Runs from Broombridge through Phibsborough, Parnell, O'Connell Street, Westmoreland, Trinity, Dawson, and St Stephen's Green before heading south through Harcourt, Charlemont, Ranelagh, and Dundrum to Sandyford and Brides Glen.

Where the two lines cross in the city centre, walk two minutes between Abbey Street (Red Line) and O'Connell - GPO or Marlborough (Green Line). Luas platforms have no turnstiles: you must touch your Leap Card onto the validator pole on the platform before boarding and touch off again on the platform when you step off the tram.