Surely switching to the car is only a viable option for those who can't avail of the taxsaver scheme and have free parking in Dublin and can carpool?
Example. Drogheda to Dublin city centre is a 60 mile round trip. With city traffic you are going to use close to two gallons of petrol which, at current prices, comes to approx €11 per day. Let's say a tenner if you have a more efficient car than my petrol guzzler. I travel 210 days per year so petrol alone would cost €2100.
The current annual rail ticket is €1750 which after taxsaver deductions costs me €927.50. Throw in €400 for station parking and I am still nearly 800 quid ahead on the cost of driving. Even without the taxsaver the costs of train or driving are roughly equal.
Driving only starts to pay off when you get a carpool to share the petrol cost.
|