Pressure grows on Irish Rail to fully restore onboard refreshment services
Onboard catering has yet to be fully reinstated on Irish Rail services across the country after being suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Passengers travelling from Mayo, Sligo and Galway to Dublin face journeys of more than four hours without access to onboard refreshments.
Both the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Irish Rail have described a lack of funding as the reason for the lack of onboard catering services.
Senator Mark Duffy, the Seanad spokesperson on Transport, Energy and Climate, said the NTA has yet to provide a breakdown of costings to the Joint Committee on Transport, despite being asked last May.
He called the delay “disrespectful” to both the public and the committee.
The Mayo-based senator first raised the issue in the Seanad, where he was told by the interim NTA chief executive that there was a lack of funding available to support the reinstatement of the service.
When pressed on costings, the NTA said it would return to the committee with rough estimates for the Mayo to Dublin and other lines.
“There’s a lack of transparency, a lack of clarity in terms of exactly what the problem is,” Senator Duffy said on Newstalk radio.
“This is something that has been advocated for, for the past number of years. There was catering on all inter-city services from Mayo, where I am based, all the way to Kerry, Sligo, and right around the country,” he added.
Refreshment services have returned on the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Belfast lines, but Senator Duffy accused Irish Rail of mismanaging the situation.
“The situation has been mismanaged over the past few years, while Irish Rail continues to say it is working to reinstate the service,
“We’re talking about journeys that can last up to four hours. For many passengers, especially older people, families with children, and those with health conditions, access to food and drink is essential,” he said in a statement.
Barry Kenny, Irish Rail’s corporate communications manager, said the company shares customers’ frustrations.
He reiterated the point that the lack of services comes down to a lack of funding from the NTA, adding that it is a priority for Irish Rail to get refreshment services back up and running again.
“You’ll have seen in recent days there is a significant shortfall for the funding of transport overall, and the Government in the budget is looking at options to address that,” Mr Kenny told Newstalk.
“We went out to tender for the entire network, we got our costs back, and we again faced the same issue in the funding that we did not cover the full provision around the network,” he explained and added that Irish Rail is in talks with suppliers about providing some form of catering services on other routes.
Mr Kenny confirmed that quotes from providers have been received, but funding through the public service contract with the NTA is not sufficient to extend services beyond Cork and Belfast.
He explained that the Dublin to Cork line is the busiest in operation and also serves passengers travelling from Kerry and Limerick, while catering on the Dublin to Belfast line is supplied under a joint contract with Translink.
Mr Kenny stressed that reinstating catering is “a priority” and that Irish Rail would be “busting a gut” to resolve the issue.
Following Mr Kenny’s comments, Senator Duffy reiterated that he had asked the NTA for the estimated cost of reinstating the services back in May.
“I asked them to come back with costs. They said they would, and have not come back to me or the committee, which is disrespectful to the committee and the public who want clarity on this,” he said, adding that there is political demand and consensus across the party divide on this issue.
“We need full clarity on what costs are required to reinstate [the service], as there is full political backing for it. One train in Mayo takes almost five hours, and not having the option of a refreshment is unacceptable,
“If the issue is budgetary, then let’s see the numbers. If it’s logistical, then let’s hear the plan. But silence and delay are not acceptable,” he added.
Senator Duffy has since submitted parliamentary questions to the NTA and the Department of Transport, seeking cost estimates, details of procurement barriers, and any plans for a phased reintroduction of the services.
The reinstatement of refreshment services beyond the Cork and Belfast routes now appears to depend on additional government funding.
With Budget 2026 due to be unveiled tomorrow, passengers and politicians alike will be watching closely to see if extra transport funding could help reinstate the service back to trains in the west.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.