Commuters left standing on Tipp rail service to Dublin

Some Tipperary train commuters have been made stand for the duration of the journey due to overcrowding on some morning rail services to Dublin.

The main 07:45 service between Limerick and Dublin Hueston last month reduced its capacity from four carriages to three leading to congestion for travellers. It stops at Thurles, Templemore and Ballybrophy on route to reaching the capital at 09:53. This train is also the only morning service available for travellers from Birdhill, Nenagh, Cloughjordan and Roscrea who wish to commute to Dublin. They transfer to the main service at Ballybrophy.

Responding to a query from the Nenagh Guardian, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said that it hopes this service will return to full capacity before Christmas.

“We are working on repairing them at present and are confident that by mid-December this train will be back to four carriages at all times. We would like to apologise to our customers that are impacted by this.

“This service, which is the 07:45 Limerick Heuston and the 15:30 Heuston Limerick intermittently is made up of three carriages instead of four. This is due to a number of train sets being out of service due to a number of collisions.”

Prebooked ticket

Passengers travelling by train are advised to book their ticket on the Irish Rail website in advance of their trip.

Davie Philip, a rail commuter from Cloughjordan train station said bookings should be made at least a day before departure.

“Usually, I have a seat booked so usually on that train I can get my seat, but it has been very busy in recent times. Even booking the day before, I’ve seen it’s full and then I’d have to drive to Ballybrophy to get an earlier train.”

However, concerns have been raised that online booking is not as easy for some elderly or less tech-fluent travellers.

Spokesperson for the North Tipperary Rail Partnership, Aisling Ryan, said that the later morning train, affected by the capacity reduction, often has more older commuters and students.

“For older people, there is a possibility to book a seat but you have to pay €2.50 per person per journey. Some people might not have that or might not have the facilities to book online; I’ve done it for my own parents. Some people aren’t even aware that’s possible.

“You can have occasions where elderly people get on, they have free travel, and they don’t have a seat booked and they’re left standing. It’s not great for people who might have a difficulty standing and you’re relying on the goodwill of somebody to give up their seat. It’s just not very well organised.”

‘Wedged’

She added that the current situation is uncomfortable both for the people standing and the people sitting.

“Generally, you can get on the train at Ballybrophy and get a seat but once it gets to Portlaoise, it’s pretty much full and after that it’s just people piling on and standing.

“Even if people want to or have to stand, there just isn’t the facilities. People are right next to you basically, I’ve had people right on top of me standing, it’s wedged.”