Rail strike after mid-term break to cause ‘maximum’ chaos

COMMUTERS can expect travel chaos on Tuesday as passenger numbers will be “up to the max” during a second rail strike.

An Irish Rail spokesman said the 24-hour strike next week will coincide with its busiest time of the year as parents and students get back to work after the mid-term break. This is likely to put extra pressure, especially at peak hours, on the over-strained bus network and will push up the number of cars on the road.

The company has already begun putting up notices in stations to let customers know there will be no services on November 7.

Sources revealed there is little chance of the strike being called off. But they said there may be a push before the Ireland versus Denmark World Cup play-off at the Aviva stadium the following week when the Labour Court may intervene.

Unions have warned that the industrial action could escalate in the run-up to Christmas and into the New Year and it is understood that 48-hour stoppages are planned during the last weekends of December. As well as next week’s strike, three further 24-hour stoppages are set to take place on November 14, November 23 and December 8.

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said the mid-term break had a “suppressing effect” during the first 24-hour strike last Wednesday. “Next week, services will be up to the max,” he said.

Mid-November is the busiest time of the year for normal commuters. College students are going home every weekend on Intercity services.

“While revenue would have been moderately suppressed on a mid-term week by about 5pc, next Tuesday’s stoppage – and subsequent planned industrial action – will be hitting the busiest time of the year for commuting and overall business on the network, and a full €900,000 a day impact would be expected. We would urge our trade unions, rather than threatening customers with further disruption and employees with lost income in the run-up to Christmas, to engage constructively to end this counterproductive action and take the opportunity engagement at the Labour Court provides.

“This would be in line with the Labour Court request that