Confusion and crowding as Galway-Dublin train departs late due to driver availability issue
A Galway-Dublin train service was heavily crowded this morning after driver availability issues delayed its departure by an hour.
Passengers due to board the 6.25am service from Galway Ceannt Station to Dublin were met with a lengthy delay after no driver was available for the train.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, one passenger, Sheila Garrity, who had a ticket for the 6.25am service said she arrived at the station at 6am and watched the 6.15am service to Limerick depart “without issue”.
As the scheduled departure time approached, station staff informed passengers there was no driver available and that the service would be delayed “10-15 minutes.”
Time showing delays at Ceannt Station. © Sheila Garrity
“Many people had no idea what was going on. We were informing each other,” Sheila said.
According to the passenger, those waiting for the delayed service were allowed to board without ticket checks at 7.15am as passengers for the 7.30am Dublin service began arriving at the station. However, all passengers were asked to disembark within 10 minutes so that safety checks could be carried out.
The train eventually departed carrying passengers from both the 6.25am and 7.30am services. Confusion over seat allocations and dozens of standing passengers made for an uncomfortable journey.
Overcrowded cars on service to Dublin. © Sheila Garrity
Irish Rail apologised to customers affected by the disruption.
In a statement to the Irish Independent, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said: “This was a late notice driver availability issue - initially this caused the service to be cancelled – however, this was resolved albeit with the train departing with a 60-minute delay.
“Pre-departure safety checks for a train entering service do need to be carried out prior to customers boarding, and we apologise for the inconvenience involved in disembarking customers while these were carried out.
“There were announcements made informing customers of delays, as well as our website journey planner and social media being updated with delay information,” they added.
The original 7.30am service was delayed by approximately 30 minutes as a result, according to Irish Rail.
All services are operating as scheduled at this time.
Upgrades to Ceannt station have been ongoing including additioanl platofrms and modernised technology. Construction on the €24m redevelopment began last year and was slated for completion by end of summer.