Sligo to Dublin train service ‘beyond frustrating’ as various issues raised
“IT’S gone beyond frustrating,” is the verdict by Cllr Marie Casserly on Irish Rail’s Sligo to Dublin service.
Cllr Casserly was speaking on Ocean FM where she criticised Irish Rail for delayed services, lack of car-parking at Sligo Station and no onboard catering for passengers.
The much-maligned service came under further scrutiny last week with delays from 45 minutes to an hour due to various stoppages.
“It’s beyond frustrating the lack of attention we’re getting here in Sligo in relation to the Dublin-Sligo line,” said Cllr Casserly.
“It’s constant delays with the trains. I get messages from people who are saying they don’t even leave the station when they hear that there’s a 20 to 25 minute delay.
“I’ve used this service before and when you leave Dublin, you’re just at Drumcrondra and there’s a delay. You would be quicker walking.
“Last Thursday, they had only a couple of carriages on with the train being full and people sitting on the floor before they left the station at Dublin. I just don’t get it – it’s gone beyond frustrating.”
Cllr Casserly also took issue with both the lack of a catering trolley on board services as well as parking at Sligo Station.
She added: “That trolley service has been resumed from Dublin to Cork and from Dublin to Belfast but not for the Sligo service.
“I’m not talking about gourmet food – just a sandwich and a cup of tea. People are literally waiting for four hours plus with delays on the train journey. “People say ‘can you not get something from the shop before you get on the train?’. But if you have your bags – and everyone knows where the shop is in relation to the station – that’s not possible for everybody either. “Irish Rail say they don’t have enough staff. They should pay the staff. Pay them properly and you’ll get loads of people to work (for you) if the conditions are right.
“I’m sure there are lots of people out there who, if they were paid properly, would love to do that job.
“With relation to the car parking issue, I got a letter from Irish Rail last year. It said that there is a National Car Park Strategy report and this prioritised car-parking expansion projects nationwide into two lots. “Of course, Sligo was in the second lot with the design and construction had commenced of the first lot of car-parks. “People right now have to go to Collooney to park but then you have the people who normally park there – so that car-park is full.”
A spokeswoman for Irish Rail told the Weekender that they “take punctuality very seriously and publish our results on a periodic basis”.
Figures provided by Irish Rail show that while the Sligo-Dublin service scores highly in terms of punctuality, last month did see a drop to 82.3 per cent from October’s figure of 93.8 per cent. While the reliability figure fell as well, it was only a minor drop from 100 per cent to 99.76 per cent.
With regard to onboard catering, the spokeswoman added: “We are currently undertaking a tender process to provide catering on other routes and hope to have provisions in place in 2024.”