Mother-to-be rushed to hospital after train delay

AN ANXIOUS mother-to-be was at the centre of an emergency during a three-hour train delay on a mainline service yesterday.

Passengers on the Heuston-bound train dialled 999 after a young woman showed signs of going into labour.

An emergency ambulance crew from Dolphins Barn fire station provided assistance to the woman as the 10.45am out of Cork crawled into Dublin almost seven hours later at 17.23.

The woman was rushed to the Coombe Maternity Hospital where she was attended to by doctors but later released.

Joan Hassett, from Cork, said her sister Margaret, a nurse, offered assistance to the mother-to-be.

“She was showing signs of being stressed out and I sent for Margaret who was in another carriage. The woman was really in a bad way. We rang the emergency services and had an ambulance waiting for her when the train pulled in. But even after we arrived, we couldn’t get her to the ambulance. The station was chaotic and it took about a quarter-of-an-hour for a wheelchair to be brought down to the carriage.”

The passenger added: “It was an experience I'll never forget.”

Furious passengers, meanwhile, signed a petition complaining to Iarnród Éireann about the delay and lack of refreshments aboard.

The disruption, caused by a locomotive breakdown, caused devastation to the rail service’s schedule.

Thousands of passengers from Cork, Limerick and Waterford stations were affected while late afternoon return services from Dublin were also badly disrupted.

The rail company last night promised to compensate passengers who suffered hardship or loss. Spokesman Andrew Roche advised passengers to retain their tickets and present any claims to Customer Services.

The mechanical fault led to Limerick and Waterford trains having to queue on the track behind the broken down locomotive.

All afternoon services from Cork, Waterford and Limerick arrived over 40 minutes late due to the breakdown, which occurred outside of Portlaoise.

More than 350 passengers were on the mid-morning service from Cork. Grandmother Anne Dineen from Cork said: “There was no drinking water available and the buffet service was closed. There were people with small babies and there were no refreshments. Everybody was angry.”

She said passengers were upset that no rail employees explained the delay.

Last night, Irish Rail admitted there was a delay, due to fleet availability, in bringing a replacement locomotive to the scene.