Irish Rail workers on trains to and from Cork report being spat at, assaulted and victims of racist attacks

The 119 complaints about antisocial behaviour on trains included details of drunk and aggressive passengers and smoking, vaping and drug use

Some 16 complaints detailed intimidation, while seven were about assaults, with people saying there were fights on the train or at Cork Kent train station, and one saying they were 'asked for money and abused and spat at'. File picture: Larry Cummins

People reported being spat on, assaulted, and subjected to racism on trains to and from Cork in the last 12 months.

Other serious incidents included “three male passengers harassing a young girl”, a group of men entering women's bathrooms, and a man self-harming on the train.

Some 119 complaints about antisocial behaviour were provided by the National Transport Authority (NTA) on foot of a Freedom of Information request.

More than a quarter were to do with passengers consuming alcohol, smoking or vaping, with people complaining about “extremely drunk and aggressive people”, and "horrible and scary" situations.

The 13 complaints which mentioned vaping included one person expressing concern a child was indulging, and a staff member using one on the train.

Four complaints were also made about drug use.

There were 32 complaints about disruptive passengers, and 26 about noisy passengers, with one person detailing “noise, loud music, shouting, roaring from youths” and 13 complaints about music being played loudly.

Some 16 complaints detailed intimidation, while seven were about assaults, with people saying there were fights on the train or at Cork Kent train station, and one saying they were “asked for money and abused and spat at”.

There were three reports of racism, including a racist sticker found in a bathroom, and racism towards Iarnród Éireann’s security staff.

Some of the complaints mentioned staff, saying the “train conductor would not help” and there was “no action from staff” in relation to people making noise in the quiet coach, which another person said was “not enforced”.

Two complaints related to who was allowed to be on the train — one person wrote a “sexual predator” was allowed to stay on the train, while another complaint detailed a “fight on train because drunk man was allegedly allowed to travel”.

Cork’s Dermot O’Leary, general secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU), said there were 50 or 60 different nationalities working in Irish Rail.

“There’s debate on immigration and our staff can bear the brunt of that — some sections of society think it’s fair game to abuse someone because of their skin colour.” 

He said the NRBU had long been calling for a dedicated public transport policing resource, and Government plans for a transport security force would require legislation and thus take years, whereas a Garda resource focused on public transport would be much faster to implement.

“People who work on trains are by and large customer service people — they’re not security, and they’re definitely not police.

“The company have done their best with security personnel, but they don’t have powers of detention and arrest.” 

He said many of its union members have had to move from customer service to other roles within Iarnród Éireann because of “being assaulted, threatened with assault, or regularly abused.”