Irish Rail train chaos as several Galway services grind to halt over incident

Chaos has struck Irish Rail services in Galway following an incident that has seen several trains grind to a halt.

Hundreds of passengers faced delays on Saturday evening after an incident on the tracks caused services to be stopped.

Irish Rail informed customers that a power failure at Woodlawn station, all Galway services were expected to face delays.

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In a post on social media, a spokesperson informed customers: “Delays to Galway services are expected due to a power failure at Woodlawn.

“17:20 Galway to Heuston service is running approximately 56 minutes late. 16:30 Heuston to Galway service is running approximately 58 minutes late.”

Last week, Irish Rail announced seven brand new services to Galway that will greatly boost public transport connections in the region.

As part of a new and updated Irish Rail timetable, commuters can look forward to five additional weekday services between Heuston and Galway and a further two extra on Sunday.

The enhanced offering will come into effect on August 25 and will mean an earlier first service from Heuston to Galway, and a later final service of the day each way, as well.

The new early morning service will leave Dublin at 5:45am and arrive in Galway city before 9am at 8:36am every Monday to Friday.

A 7:27am Tullamore to Galway service will arrive into Galway just before 9am at 8:58am and adds an additional morning peak service for all stations between Tullamore and Oranmore.

A new late service from Dublin that will see you arrive in Galway at 11:06pm will also be added to the timetable when it launches later this summer. It will leave Dublin at 8:30pm Monday to Saturday and also serve stations including Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Athenry and Oranmore.

There’s also a late Galway to Dublin Monday to Saturay that arrives in the capital at 11:50pm. It leaves Galway at 8:50pm. This will provide a later last service from Dublin to Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Athenry, Oranmore & Galway.

A new 9:05am Galway/Heuston service Monday to Friday serving Oranmore, Athenry, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Tullamore & Portarlington, arriving into Dublin Heuston at 11:29am.

Two new Sunday services are 10:30 hrs Heuston/Galway (Sunday) service arriving at 1:02pm, also calling at Newbridge, Kildare, Portarlington, Tullamore, Clara, Athlone, Ballinasloe, Woodlawn, Athenry & Oranmore.

New 1:40pm Galway/Heuston (Sunday) service arriving at 4:14pm, also calling at Oranmore, Athenry, Attymon, Woodlawn, Ballinasloe, Athlone, Clara, Tullamore & Portarlington.

Exiting services will also see stop changes including the 9:30am Monday to Friday service which has been moved to 10:05am and will arrive into Heuston at 12:41 pm while also stopping in Oranmore. The 1pm Sunday service has been moved forward to 12:20pm and will also stop in Oranmore. It will no longer serve Attymon, customers can avail of the new 1:40pm service from Galway instead.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said “in 2024, we are set to see the highest ever number of passengers on our network. This will be the third timetable change in a row in which Iarnród Éireann with the National Transport Authority have identified opportunities for further service improvements, with 41 new Intercity railcar carriages which entered service this year facilitating much of the service expansion. We encourage all current customers and all considering rail for their sustainable travel options to review the proposed changes, and give us their feedback, as we finalise the new schedule.”

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