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3rd October 2024
03:30pm BST
Iarnród Éireann have apologised to commuters after they reverted back to their old Dublin timetable following a number of complaints.
The new timetable had caused controversy after it increased intercity services which led to congestion and knock-on delays on routes coming into Connolly Station.
On their website, Iarnród Éireann said it "deeply regrets the disruption to our customers’ daily journeys and lives."
"We recognise the enormous disruption this has caused our customers’ work, education, childcare and other requirements, and how critical the punctuality and reliability of our services are to the daily lives of our commuting customers," it continued.
"While changes made on 16th September improved evening punctuality in particular, it is clear that the impact to morning commuting was continuing."
Saturday 5th October
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) October 3, 2024
🚨Engineering work between Dromod and Boyle
🚌Bus transfers will operate between Dromod and Sligo after 19:00hrs.
The following departures will not operate:
16:05 Connolly-Sligo is cancelled
17:05 Sligo-Connolly is cancelled
ℹ️ Info: https://t.co/vX1vygNpoo
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny apologised to commuters and admitted "we got it wrong".
"We got it wrong and we are genuinely very, very sorry to our customers, it's been very disruptive in recent weeks for customers," he said.
The new changes to the timetable, which will begin on Monday, October 7, are as follows:
Morning timetables on routes operating to/from Connolly Station (up to 09:30hrs to 10:00hrs approx) will revert to the pattern of the pre-26th August timetable, with minor time changes. This includes trains which previously terminated at stations such as Pearse, Grand Canal Dock and Bray resuming operation to/from these stations, reducing the need for interchanges in the morning peak at Connolly Station.
There will be revised running times on a number of Belfast services, including changes to times on the 06:00hrs and 07:00hrs Belfast to Dublin services, arriving to Dublin at 08:23hrs and 09:20hrs respectively.
As well as improving punctuality for Commuter services, this will enable a key gap in the Northern Commuter morning service to be reduced:
Current departure times from Drogheda (with Donabate times for reference) are: 06:58hrs (07:32hrs), 07:09hrs (07:44hrs), 07:41hrs (08:16hrs)
New departure times during the same time window from Drogheda (Donabate) from Monday 14th October will be: 06:55hrs (07:30hrs), 07:05hrs (07:39hrs), 07:19hrs (07:55hrs), 07:36hrs (08:13hrs)
Additionally, the proposed 07:50hrs Dublin Connolly to Belfast will operate at 07:40hrs, to prevent congestion at Malahide.
Some evening services which currently commence from Pearse/Grand Canal Dock will commence from Bray / Dun Laoghaire.
There will be some minor changes to departure times to a number of DART, Northern, Maynooth and Phoenix Park Tunnel commuter trains, and one Dublin to Rosslare train to facilitate the above.
Increased services on the Galway, Waterford and Belfast lines implemented on 26th August will be maintained.
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