Rail crossing breakdown sparks road chaos
Traffic had to be diverted on the Cork/Killarney road and the 200 passengers in the 9.15am Tralee/Cork train were transferred to Mallow in four buses.
Long tailbacks formed as gardaí sent the traffic in other directions while the passengers were being removed from the train and an Iarnród Éireann crew got to work on repairs.
The last two carriages in the train were just entering the level crossing at Minish, outside Killarney, when the engine ground to a halt, leaving the carriages straddling one of the country’s busiest routes.
Over the years, there has been criticism of the quality of trains serving Kerry.
The broken-down locomotive involved dated to the 1970s and is due for replacement, according to Iarnród spokesman Barry Kenny. He said new rail cars, which had engines installed as part of the unit, had been ordered.
“In terms of fleet, we have 67 new carriages coming in next year on the Dublin/Cork route and Tralee customers will also benefit from this,” he added. Mr Kenny also said further orders for more rail cars would be placed by the end of this year.
He added that new track had been laid in recent years on the Mallow/Tralee line and a new signalling system was due to be completed by March 2005.
