CSO release their transport statistics, showing an increase in public transport use

Published: Tue 30 Jun 2026, 4:12 PM

The Central Statistics Office have provided a snapshot into the transport statistics in Ireland for June 2026, showing a rise in public transport use.

When it came to road safety statistics, these show that there were 70 road deaths from January to May 2026, compared with 66 for the same period last year.

The statistics also show that the number of new private electric cars licensed for the first time from January to May rose by 52% when compared with the same period in 2025, 18,041 vs 11,877.

In terms of public transport, there was also an 11% increase in the number of people using the Luas in the week of 25 May, when compared with the same week in 2026.

Along with this, there was almost 22 million rail journeys taken between January 1 and May 24, which was up 13% on the same period in 2025. 5

The number of passengers using Ireland’s largest airports increased by 6% in 2025, when compared with 2024. Going from 43,490,089 vs 40,987,765.

The CSO also found that driving licences went up by 3% in 2025, compared with 2024, from 3,649,465 to 3,538,732 driving licences.

Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Division, said: “To facilitate a growing need for transport statistics, the CSO created a Transport Hub so people can access the most up-to-date information on key topics on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.

“Looking at the most up-to-date data, we can see there were 76,014 new private cars licensed in January to May 2026, an increase of 5% when compared with the same five-month period in 2025. The use of public transport is rising, with almost 22 million rail journeys (excluding the Luas) taken between 01 January and 24 May 2026, which was up 13% on the same period in 2025.

“Passenger journeys on all public transport (excluding Luas) also rose, with the number of journeys up by 2% for the week beginning 18 May 2026 when compared with the same week in 2025 (5,485,700 vs 5,061,156). There were 70 road fatalities in the first five months of 2026, compared with 66 fatalities in the same period in 2025, a rise of 6%.”