Disbelief as naked man delays train services

A STREAKER who delayed a Limerick train for 20 minutes yesterday was last night being medically examined by a doctor.

Rail services in the mid-West were disrupted when a train driver came upon a stark naked man standing in the middle of the line between Limerick and Limerick Junction.

The man, a foreign national aged in his 30s, refused to budge when the train driver sounded his horn.

The 9.55am train out of Colbert Station, Limerick was forced to a halt at Killonan, about six miles from Limerick.

Passengers were informed there was a man walking on the railway tracks.

Passenger John Harnett from Cratloe said: “We couldn’t believe it. It seemed at first there was some kind of demonstration being carried out by a man on the main railway tracks. The train had to stop as he would not move off the tracks.”

The driver alerted Colbert station on the train radio and they in turn contacted gardaí at Roxboro Road station.

Gardaí got on to the railway track at a local level crossing. A garda spokesman said: “He was standing there in front of the train on the tracks. He came along with us and we brought him to the station in the patrol car.”

Jim Gallivan of Irish Rail in Limerick said: “It seems he walked out along the line from near Limerick and as he moved along he took off his clothes and threw them away.

The man was subsequently brought to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he was being assessed by staff at Unit 5B.

A goods train which had been travelling into Limerick from Limerick Junction was also delayed by the mainline streaker.

The Irish Rail spokesman said: “We have never had anything like this before. The passenger train was held up for 20 minutes. But we make certain allowances regarding schedules and the Limerick train only delayed the Cork to Dublin train by 10 minutes.”