Dublin is set to get its first 24-hour bus route by the end of the year, according to the National Transport Authority (NTA).

Cork was the first city in the country to have a 24-hour service, which began in March.

The buses run every hour after midnight, but frequency could be increased.

The NTA has said these services "proved extremely popular".

Under the plans for Dublin, it is expected the 41-route from Swords would be the first route to become a 24-hour service.

This route also serves Dublin Airport.

Anne Graham, CEO of the NTA, told the Sunday Independent: "We know there is a demand for 24-hour services within Dublin city, so we're hoping to commence at least one service this year in Dublin Bus".

Brian Caulfield is an associate professor of engineering at Trinity College Dublin.

He told Newstalk Breakfast: "It's definitely a welcome move for Dublin - it's a move as we've seen in Cork has been quite successful.

"It's a move that's happening across the rest of the continent as well - and many cities are introducing these 24-hour bus services and all-weekend running train and tram services".

"In the long run there should be more than one service - but one of the things to bear in mind is that the bus service in Dublin runs about 19 hours of the day as it currently is - similar to the Luas and the DART services - so there is a lot of services running.

"What the NTA are suggesting is basically making the Nitelinks run on a seven day a week period.

"I think running this first route is a good route because it takes in the airport and it will get that kind of traffic - and depending upon the success of this, to roll it out across the rest of the city".

Asked whether or not this could be extended to trams, he used continental Europe as an example.

"One of the things they have in Copenhagen is that they're driverless trams - so that kind of takes out some of the costs of running it as a 24-hour basis".