Iarnród Éireann
Iarnród Éireann (
IÉ; in
English Irish Rail), is the national passenger and freight railway system of the Republic of
Ireland. Established on
1 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of
Córas Iompair Éireann. It operates all internal
intercity,
suburban and
commuter railway services in the
Republic of Ireland, and the
Enterprise service between
Dublin and
Belfast jointly with
Northern Ireland Railways. In addition to Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways,
Bord na Móna operates a 3ft-gauge large industrial railway (the largest railway system in Ireland, but it does not carry passengers). See also
rail transport in Ireland.
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1987: "The Four Rails" of Irish Rail |
At the time of its establishment Iarnród Éireann referred to itself as Irish Rail, and introduced the four rails IR logo; however, the initials
IR were often defaced as
IRA on signage. In
1994, the company brought the
Irish form of its name and related initials to the fore, and these remain the
corporate branding today. The Irish word
iarnród (alternately rendered "bóthar iarainn") translates literally into English as
iron road, or formally
railway.
Iarnród Éireann services are divided across several separate operating areas.
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Advertising for Iarnród Éireann Intercity in Galway, 2005 |
Iarnród Éireann's services are branded under three main names;
InterCity,
Commuter and
DART.
InterCity services are long-distance routes radial from Dublin. The
Belfast–
Dublin service, run in conjunction with
Northern Ireland Railways, is branded separately as
Enterprise.
Diesel multiple unit (DMU) services out of major cities are branded
Commuter. The
DART brand is used for a north-south high-frequency electric
multiple unit (EMU) service on the eastern side of Dublin. A separate timetable is published for each sector annually. Regional services (e.g. Limerick-Rosslare Europort) are sometimes regarded as Commuter services, with fairly new Commuter DMUs being used on the service.
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Iarnród Éireann No. 215 at Grand Canal Dock DART station, 2001 |
Dublin is the hub of Ireland's railway system. The two main Intercity stations are
Connolly Station and
Heuston Station; Intercity services radiate to/from
Cork,
Limerick,
Tralee,
Galway,
Waterford,
Rosslare Europort,
Sligo,
Westport and
Ballina.
The majority of commuter services are based in Dublin, which has four commuter routes in 2006. These are: Northern (
Dundalk), Western (
Maynooth/
Longford), South Western (
Newbridge/
Kildare/
Portlaoise) and South Eastern (
Arklow). Additional commuter services include the
Cork Suburban Rail, which runs on two lines from
Cork (to
Mallow and
Cóbh) and another service from
Limerick (to
Ennis and
Limerick Junction). As the
Commuter livery is used on all DMU railcars, a number of other services also run under the name. These include Mallow–
Tralee,
Manulla Junction–
Ballina and Limerick–Rosslare Europort, as well as the Dublin–Sligo and Dublin–Rosslare "InterCity".
The north-south route along Dublin's eastern coastal side is also host to
DART, Ireland's only electrified heavy rail service.
Quality of service varies from route to route. The Enterprise is well regarded, despite problems with punctuality. There have been ongoing problems with excess power drain on the locomotives, with one or two locomotives overheating and bursting into flames while in service. Breakdowns are a regular occurrence as a result. (This is part of an on-going problem with IE adapting full-time locomotive-driven head-end power, or HEPâ€"traditionally, generator vans for electric supply have been used.) The Cork - Dublin route, also quite well regarded, was the "premier line" of the
Great Southern and Western Railway, one of the biggest pre-Córas Iompair Éireann operators. Journey time and rolling stock are quite good on this route with brand new rolling stock (mark 4) due to enter service on
2006-05-15, but this entry was delayed by a week by an unofficial strike by train drivers.
See also: Rail transport in IrelandIarnród Éireann's
Network Catering unit provides a trolley service of
food and
drink, a snack car and (on some routes) a restaurant service. It also operates restaurants at
Connolly Station and at
Dún Laoghaire. According to
Irish Rail's annual report, the unit lost €270 000 in 2004.
Early in 2006, Iarnród Éireann advertised for private catering contractors to take over the operation of its catering services, but at present the company still operates the services directly.
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Iarnród Éireann is the
Irish language translation for
"Irish Rail" and may be pronounced in English as
"EERN-rode AIR-in".
*
List of Irish companies*
List of railway stations in Ireland*
History of rail transport in Ireland*
Transportation in Ireland*
Diesel Locomotives of Ireland*
Multiple Units of Ireland*
Coaching Stock of Ireland*
Official site - Timetables, bookings and operations*
Official site - Corporate Site*
Platform 11 - Ireland's National Rail Users Group*
Irish Railway News -reporting on all aspects of irish railways
