Major distress as rail strikes set to continue

Distressed passengers — including Bruce Springsteen and Munster fans — were bearing the brunt of continuing industrial action by Iarnród Éireann train drivers today.

Major distress as rail strikes set to continue

Distressed passengers — including Bruce Springsteen and Munster fans — were bearing the brunt of continuing industrial action by Iarnród Éireann train drivers today.

The action begun at 1.30pm yesterday but may now go on indefinitely as Iarnród Éireann confirmed tickets are not being sold for next week as they cannot guarantee services.

One woman broke down in tears at Kent Station in Cork last night after discovering that she would not make it to see her idol Bruce Springsteen.

A group of 10 Munster fans were furious when they discovered their train to Dublin to make a lunchtime flight over to Cardiff had been cancelled this morning. Fans Stephen Traynor and Peter Kavanagh from Cobh were among the group who had to make a frantic rush to hire a car instead.

“We rang up last night to see what the situation was today and weren’t given any information,” said Traynor. “Then we came in today and the TV screens still said the trains are ‘on-time’.

“There’s nothing we can do now except hope we get there on time, but traffic is going to be crazy.”

The stoppage by drivers was sparked after a Cork-based driver refused to operate his train after his roster changed from running a passenger service to a train for new trainee drivers and he was taken off the payroll.

In reaction to him being taken off the payroll by Iarnród Eireann management, support for the driver escalated among other train drivers which affected services into and out of Cork.

By today, early services from Galway, Westport and Athlone were also hit.

No trains were running from Cork today, or for the foreseeable future, but some trains were operating out of Mallow to Dublin with a shuttle bus running from Cork for those services only.

Refunds were available for affected passengers.

An 89-year-old woman who was hoping to travel to Belfast yesterday was checked-in to the Metropole Hotel last night by an Iarnród Eireann member of staff.

Linda Woods from Scotland, who was in Cork for an interview, couldn’t get back to Athlone last night and was offered no accommodation. She had to source her own at her own expense.

The Siptu Cork branch organiser dealing with the dispute, John Pearson, said: “I am working closely with the general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union, Dermot O’Leary, in Dublin whose drivers are also involved. As early as 4pm yesterday I attempted to get a meeting with local management in Cork. We organised to sit down this morning at 9am but it was cancelled.

“I’m disgusted that the meeting was pulled, because now the general public have been let down. I’m available to meet with management to try to resolve this issue at any time.”

A spokesman for Iarnród Eireann said: “The meeting was cancelled because the action has escalated and must be resolved centrally in Dublin. We apologise for any inconvenience this is causing.”

He also reassured passengers that there were attempts being made to get more drivers trained to avoid future disruptions, but the training process takes 54 weeks.

Passengers are advised to call 1850 366 222 or go to www.irishrail.ie to check if their train is running before going to the train station.

Article courtesy of The Evening Echo newspaper

More in this section

Lunchtime News

Newsletter

Keep up with stories of the day with our lunchtime news wrap and important breaking news alerts.

Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited