Complaints about anti-social behaviour on Luas services more than doubled in 2023 to reach their highest level in a decade.
New figures published by the National Transport Authority reveal that the number of complaints about anti-social behaviour made to the Luas Call Centre rose from 1,001 in 2022 to 2,159 last year – an annual increase of 116%.
The previous record annual number of complaints about anti-social behaviour on trams and at Luas stops was 1,232 in 2020 when another dramatic surge in such figures was recorded.
On that occasion, however, Transdev – the operator of Luas – claimed the increase in complaints was linked to the emerging Coronavirus outbreak with such issues subsequently reclassified under a special category as Covid-19-related complaints.
The large increase in reports of anti-social behaviour on Red and Green Line services last year is expected to raise concerns about safety on trams.
The 2,159 complaints about anti-social behaviour last year contrasts with pre-pandemic years when the average annual number of such complaints was just around 430.
Transdev did not respond to a request for comment on the results of the latest NTA report on the performance of Luas operations.
Luas passengers more likely to feel unsafe
A separate report by the NTA published earlier this year showed passengers on Luas services were three times more likely to feel unsafe on their journey than other public transport users.
The annual survey on customer satisfaction levels revealed a significantly higher proportion of commuters are concerned about their safety when either travelling on the Luas or waiting at stops for trams compared to bus and rail passengers.
In 2023, 13% of Luas passengers reported feeling unsafe while travelling on trams compared to 4% of bus passengers and 5% of commuters on trains.
In addition, approximately 10% of Luas passengers said they felt unsafe waiting at stops compared to 6% of bus commuters and 4% of rail users.
While 66% of commuters on bus and rail services said they felt very safe on such transport, the figure dropped to 40% for Luas passengers.
The latest NTA figures show the overall number of complaints about a range of issues related to Luas services rose by 83% in 2023.
A total of 6,033 complaints were filed with Transdev last year – over 2,700 more than in 2022.
The rate of increase in complaints was far higher than the rise in passenger numbers with 48.2 million journeys taken on the Luas in 2023 – an annual increase of 25%.
The figures show there was also a sizeable increase in complaints about disruption to Luas services last year – up over 900 to 1,990.
Improved reliability
The NTA report reveals that there was improved reliability with Luas services last year with 97.1% of Luas trams operating their scheduled services – up from 93.5% in 2022.
The reliability rate of services on the Green line was higher at 98.0% compared to the Red line where 96.2% of scheduled services were operated.
There was also a 36% increase in complaints last year about the behaviour of Transdev staff to reach an annual total of 677 – the highest level in a decade.
However, there were notable decreases in the number of complaints about ticket vending machines and ticket validator equipment as well as noise.
A total of 61 individuals reported suffering an alleged personal injury while using Luas services – up 11 cases on 2022 figures but considerably below the pre-pandemic average of almost 180 cases per annum.
Complaints about overcrowding on trams were also significantly below the average for previous years with 72 recorded last year.
