Rising costs and competing priorities mean catering services on the Galway-Dublin rail line are unlikely to return in the near future, Fianna Fáil Galway West TD John Connolly has warned.
Dep Connolly called for the reintroduction of catering facilities on the Galway-Dublin rail service – the only major rail service in the State without any form of catering on board. He also raised the issue in the Dáil with the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien.
Catering facilities, especially trolley services, but also carriages serving light meals, especially during afternoon and evening routes, were a traditional feature of rail journeys, but were suspended during Covid-19.
“Despite pandemic restrictions no longer being in place,” said Dep Connolly, “catering services have not been reinstated on the Galway-Dublin line. This is in contrast to the Dublin-Cork and Dublin-Belfast routes, where such services are in operation again.”
In his response, Minister O’Brien said Iarnród Éireann was “working to restore catering services where possible”, but with catering costs having risen sharply this decade, the ability to restore services beyond a limited basis has been impacted.
As a result, catering on the Dublin-Cork route has been reinstated on an interim basis, while Dublin-Belfast operates under a separate contract. However, the Minister said he was “unable to confirm any restoration date” for the Galway-Dublin line.
Minister O’Brien also indicated that Public Service Obligation funding must be prioritised toward the delivery of core transport services over onboard catering, stating that if a choice must be made between catering and the rail service itself, taxpayer funding is “best directed toward providing rail services”.
Dep Connolly acknowledged the “financial realities” of the situation but asked that Galway-Dublin passengers “not be treated as an afterthought”.
“Galway-Dublin is one of the State’s major rail routes, not simply serving an east-west journey, but numerous towns and centres all along the midlands.
“I encourage the Minister and Iarnród Éireann to consider this. There is no reason Galway-Dublin passengers have to go without, when Cork-Dublin and Dublin-Belfast commuters do not.”
