Irish Examiner view: Three long years

Return of the food trolleys

The trolley service has been reinstated on the Cork to Dublin route following a three-year hiatus. Picture: Dan Linehan

For those who travel the intercity route from Dublin to Cork there was some good news this week, with the announcement that the onboard catering trolley service is to resume after an absence of some three years.

It is not quite business as usual — as reported here, the service will resume on a limited number of services on the Cork to Dublin route this week for staff training purposes, though it’s expected that the on-board service will extend to all services on the route in the coming weeks.

While this is a welcome return for the service, three years is far too long an absence. Even making allowances for staffing challenges and covid, it is hard to believe that the on-board trolley service could not be provided for passengers, for all Irish Rail’s claims that inflated costs were being quoted for full catering provision.

Lest it be thought that this is a minor matter, consider the challenge all of us face in cutting our emissions and finding more carbon-friendly transport options.

The lack of a basic catering service on the busiest train line in the country is hardly an incentive to those trying to replace the car with a more environmentally friendly option, not to mention being totally unacceptable in terms of 21st-century customer service.