Thieves trying to steal cables delay Irish Rail rush hour commuters
TRAINS to and from Heuston Station in Dublin were delayed for over an hour yesterday morning, after Irish Rail signalling equipment was vandalised overnight.
According to the transport company, approximately 320 metres of cable were affected at a location between Newbridge and Kildare.
When the train company was alerted to the issue, an Irish Rail employee was dispatched to investigate and they discovered thieves attempting to take the cable.
In a statement, Irish Rail said: ‘Approximately 320 metres of cable was vandalised at a location between Newbridge and Kildare overnight. We were alerted to a problem with the signalling system [and it] showed a problem at that location.
‘An [Irish Rail] employee was dispatched to investigate and disturbed the thieves so they left the scene without the cable, but the damage done to it meant that it had to be replaced.’
As a result, there was widespread disruption to services in and out of Heuston Station. At one point services were delayed by up to 90 minutes.
The cable was replaced by 9.15am yesterday but some residual delays remained.
Irish Rail said the cost of repairing the cable was in the region of €4,000 and it also took signalling staff away from work planned for yesterday morning.
‘Most importantly, [it] disrupted thousands of commuters making their way into Dublin,’ it added.
Gardaí confirmed yesterday that they are investigating the incident which occurred on the Melitta Road in Kildare.
Irish Rail said delays to services in and out of Heuston Station had eased by 1pm.
On May 28 this year, more than 20,000 passengers faced significant delays after train services in and out of Heuston Station were suspended when a major signal fault occurred earlier that morning.
Irish Rail said there was a problem with one of the software programmes, and at one point, the company had to revert to manual signalling operations.
The fault had occurred without warning and, as a result, it was not possible for the company to provide alternative travel arrangements for passengers.
Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny described this incident at the time as ‘the worst fault that we’ve experienced in quite a number of years in terms of severity, the time that it happened and impact on services’.
Culprits ‘left scene without the cable’