Service reductions as IÉ and NIR tighten operations amid Covid-19
IARNRÓD Éireann-Irish Rail (IÉ) introduced further revisions to its timetables on March 30 as the Republic of Ireland’s coronavirus lockdown continued.
The new timetables will be in force until further notice and see a marked reduction in services on all routes, including the Intercity, Commuter and DART operations, as well as revisions to the crossborder‘Enterprise’service.
The changes have also seen the withdrawal of services on some routes such as Waterford to Limerick Junction and Limerick to Ballybrophy (via Nenagh), while M3 Parkway to Clonsilla services will not operate on Saturdays and Sundays.
An idea of the scale of the cuts can be gained when looking at arrivals at Dublin’s Connolly and Heuston station before 09.15, during what would normally be one of the busiest times of the day.
Connolly arrivals have dropped from 62 to 41, while Heuston’s have fallen from 15 to 11.
IÉ says it has been monitoring passenger loadings on services across the network throughout the Covid-19 crisis, using the information gleaned, together with guidance from the health authorities, to draw up the new timetables.
However, the operator says it will be maximising train lengths wherever possible to ensure social distancing can be maintained on board.
To help facilitate this an unallocated seating policy was introduced, and ‘no sitting’ labels placed on strategic seats to ensure passengers sit the requisite distance apart.
“To support the country’s efforts in tackling Covid-19, our team of almost 4,000 people is working with the National Transport Authority and other public transport operators, and will be guided at all times by the advice of our healthcare professionals,” said IÉ chief executive Jim Meade.
“Rail services will continue to operate subject to the alterations detailed above and will continue to do so unless public policy or the advice of health professionals changes, or unless our workforce is impacted to an extent which makes further service reduction unavoidable.
“We are cleaning stations and trains in line with advice received by our health authorities, and we are focusing on areas like door buttons, grab handles, tables, ticket machines etc with which customers and staff come into most regular contact.
“We are also planning contingency measures to ensure service continuity, and diverting people and resources to supporting this.”
■ Similar measures have been taken by Northern Ireland Railways, which also introduced an enhanced Sunday timetable on most routes Monday to Saturday.