Irish Rail says catering service to return to Intercity lines by end of year

Irish Rail plans to reintroduce catering services on all of its Intercity trains by the end of the year.

Catering services were suspended across the network in March 2020 at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic after government restrictions on passenger numbers made the service commercially unviable.

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny confirmed that a national tendering process for the trolley service is at its final stages, subject to funding approval by the National Transport Authority.

“When the Covid restrictions ended in spring 2022, we worked with our catering provider to resume but ultimately they pulled out of the contract citing costs and staffing issues,” he said.

“When we went to market, costs being quoted to us had increased four-fold, for which we weren’t funded. We decided to contract services for Dublin to Cork only, also benefiting Kerry and Limerick customers, within our available funding, while we also pursued a national contract.”

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Catering trolleys were reintroduced on the Dublin-Cork route in May of last year whilst the Dublin to Belfast train has a service under a separate contract due to the geographical logistics of crossing the Border.

Mr Kenny said Irish Rail expects to exceed 50.1 million journeys across the full network of Intercity, Dart and commuter trains this year, which would be a record level.

Asked about the visibility and availability of staff on some of its routes, specifically the Dublin to Westport line, Mr Kenny said: “We now have Customer Service Officers on all of our Intercity services, including the Westport route. These have been introduced over the last couple of years, so it should always be the case that there is a staff member on board to assist with any customer queries and issues.”

He also said Irish Rail’s online seat reservation system had “significantly improved over the past two years”.

“We don’t double-sell or double-book seats: however, if a mechanical issue arises at late notice, it can occur that an alternative train with lesser capacity may be provided, which can cause issues,” he said.