Tunnelling work blamed for rail chaos

Rush-hour chaos on one of the busiest rail lines into Dublin was today blamed on the construction of a tunnel to the city’s port.

Thousands of passengers faced severe disruption this morning when services on northern routes into Connolly Station were halted.

Rail company Iarnrod Eireann said it believed work on the Dublin Port Tunnel had caused subsidence which forced the closure of the line for more than three hours.

Spokesman Barry Kenny said the company would be carrying out investigations to establish its cause.

“We have the belief that this is connected to the works on the Dublin Port Tunnel site,” he said. “We have been investigating that possibility since this subsidence happened this morning.”

Residents living close to the tunnel construction called for a halt to the work.

Fintan Cassidy, spokesman for the Marino Development Action Group, said residents were extremely concerned as tunnelling underneath houses in the area was due to begin in January.

“We are extremely worried that they are going to run into more subsidence problems and our houses could be damaged or will even fall down,” he said.

A spokesman for Dublin City Council engineers working on the tunnel said he shared the concern of Iarnrod Eireann but would have to wait for the result of investigations to establish whether tunnelling work was to blame.

The incident disrupted services to and from Connolly, including the line between Dublin and Belfast and the suburban DART commuter system.

Some DART trains and carriages were unable to leave the depot on the northern side of the city.

Tens of thousands of rail travellers had to make alternative travel arrangements because of the rail closures, which also caused increased traffic on roads into Dublin, with long queues of vehicles forming on most routes during the morning rush-hour.