Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has said it eliminated more than 70 fake eFlow websites last year.
In its annual report for 2023, the agency noted that eFlow customers were “the target of smishing (fake mobile text messages) cyberattacks in the first half of the year”.
The scams typically involved consumers receiving text messages purporting to be from toll operator eFlow demanding payments.
“With assistance from the Bank of Ireland fraud team, the identification and destruction of over 70 fake eFlow websites was achieved,” it said.
About two million domestic and foreign motorists use the M50 and Dublin Tunnel toll roads each year, TII noted in its report.
About 57 million passages were recorded on Dublin’s M50 eFlow toll road last year, an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year. Year-on-year toll income grew by 11 per cent to €190 million in 2023, “due to the combined effect of higher traffic volumes and an inflation-linked increase in toll charges which entered into effect in July,” it said.
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Toll income from the Dublin Tunnel amounted to €27 million for 2023, collected from 6.3 million passages, representing an increase of 21 per cent on the previous year.
The transport agency also provided an update on the MetroLink project – the planned rail line from central Dublin to the airport and Malahide in the north of the county, describing it as “the single largest public transport investment in the State’s history and a transformative piece of new public transport infrastructure”.
“When MetroLink operations commence, trains will operate every three minutes during peak periods, with the option of rising to every 90/100 seconds by 2060 if required,” it said, noting the system will be capable of carrying up to 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction.
The TII said the railway order statutory public consultation received a large number of submissions related to the project, which were discussed at oral hearings this year.
The transport authority also noted that Luas passenger numbers returned to pre-pandemic levels last year with 48.2 million trips taken during the year. It said the service responded quickly and efficiently after damage to trams in the Dublin riots last November.
“TII staff and the Luas operator, Transdev, responded with efficiency and commitment to repair the damage done to the Luas system by rioters on November 23rd. The service resumed the following day,” it said.
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