Rail services get back on track after stoppages

After two days of travel gridlock across the country — with many people having to add a number of hours to their normal commuting times — train services will get back to normal today, albeit only for the next fortnight.

Almost 100,000 commuters would normally have used the train services yesterday. Huge numbers had to take to the roads either on buses or in their own cars as Irish Rail staff once again grounded services over the company’s decision to press ahead with temporary pay cuts without agreement.

From last weekend, staff earning up to €56,000 saw their pay reduced by 1.7%. That rose to a maximum of 6.1% for those earning more than €100,000. The cuts, recommended by the Labour Court, are to last for 28 months.