DART services back to normal

More than 100,000 rail passengers in eastern Ireland face disruption today as train drivers stage a one-day strike.

There are no services on the main Dublin to Belfast route, while trains from the capital to Rosslare, Co Wexford and Sligo were also cancelled.

Dublin’s urban DART service was operating at 50% capacity this morning but has now resumed its normal schedule.

Some other suburban routes were also affected by the dispute.

Today’s strike arose over non-recognition by the Irish Rail company of former members of the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association who enrolled with Ireland’s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union.

ATGWU members are picketing stations in Dundalk and Drogheda, Co Louth, and two depots in Dublin.

Earlier stoppages over the same issue last year brought the country’s rail links to a near standstill.

The company claimed that the row ran counter to existing arrangements and was the result of inter-trade union rivalry.

A last-ditch appeal to call off the action from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions was rejected.

Further disruption is planned for tomorrow in Munster, in the south of the country, and the midlands, while on Thursday the action moves to depots in west and north-west Ireland.