‘Elon Musk will colonise Mars’ before we get contactless payments on public transport, TD says

Grace Boland, Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal West, described it as “absolutely ridiculous” that commuters are still waiting for this to happen.

“We are being left behind by our European counterparts, who have had this technology for years,” she said.

“London has had contactless payments on their buses since 2012, Milan has had it since 2018, and the Netherlands became the first country to launch a fully contactless public transport payments system nationwide in 2023.

“At the snail's pace we are going, Elon Musk will have colonised Mars, and Manchester United will have built a new 100,000-capacity stadium before people in this country get contactless payments for public transport,” she added.

The comments follow a report published by the National Transport Authority, which said this type of contactless payment will not be available until at least 2028.

It was announced in July last year that a Spanish company, Indra, would be responsible for the introduction of the new system – allowing passengers to pay fares using their bank cards or mobile phones...
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