Not being familiar with Toronto I don't know if they have the same problems with threatening, abusive and violent behaviour late at night as we have hear but I suspect it isn't as bad.
It is common practice in Ireland to charge extra late at night to pay for security and insurance. This is done for transport, pubs and even in food outlets. This security has to be provided and so has to be paid for.
As somebody who is highly unlikely to take a late night DART, while it is nice to see Irish Rail provide it, I would rather that my already expensive commuter fare not be put towards subsidising a discount late-night DART service. I think that a 12:30 service is one thing and is close enough to normal operating hours that normal fares are reasonable as a one-off, but when you get beyond 1AM, normal price service becomes untenable really. The service this year can probably be written off as an exercise in marketing as way to generate good-will and as a way to judge the feasibility of operating such a service more regularly.
It would also be very nice to see a Friday night service past Maynooth that leaves Dublin later than 1905 but I guess we can whistle for that.
I spent several months in Tokyo about 15 years ago and even they shut down for 4 hours a night leading to quite a few mad nights out where you just stay out until the first train.
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