Thousands of public transport passengers will have to pay more for their fares from today.

The National Transport Authority is reminding people of increases across some Dublin Bus, Luas and train routes.

Households will also be facing more costs, with broadband, gas and electricity prices set to rise.

Luas cash fares are increasing by up to 5% but there is a new Luas off-peak fare for city centre travel at €1.

Luas Cross City will begin on 9 December.

Dublin Bus fares for mid-range journeys are to increase by 5.6%.

The NTA has said the price hikes are part of a restructuring plan.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, NTA Chief Executive Officer Anne Graham said that a number of changes to prices would bring more savings to passengers.

She said changes are being made slowly to bring more benefits to under 18s.

Children aged up to five - up from four years of age - can now travel free on all public transport.

The NTA said the Leap Card system will be available across all services, and commuters who transfer to the Leap Card can avoid much of the latest fare increases.

Rail commuters in certain counties, such as Cork, will see a reduction of 25% in some fares.

City fare zones have also been extended into satellite towns in Cork, Limerick and Galway which extends the lower fare charged on Bus Éireann routes to a wider area.

On Dublin Bus there is an increase on the second fare - part of a long-term plan to simplify fares going forward. The city centre fare is being scrapped.

However a single time-based fare will be introduced in the future to encourage "more interchange" over a 90-minute period on the bus to work with revised networks that are being planned.

Customers of Sky, Vodafone, Energia, Flogas, Pinergy and PrePayPower can also expect to see their bills increase.

Energia's 3.9% electricity price hike is expected to add around €31 to bills for customers with average consumption.

Flogas' 3.3% gas price increase will add €20 to average annual bills, Pinergy's 5.6% electricity price hike will add €41 to average annual bills, and PrePayPower's electricity price hike will add €34 to average annual bills.

Bonkers.ie Head of Communications Mark Whelan said the increases could add up to hundreds of euro to annual household bills.

"For example, a person who gets their gas from Flogas, electricity from Pinergy, TV from Sky and landline from Vodafone could be hit with four price hikes in one day, adding over €200 to their annual bills," he added.