ABOUT 20,000 rail passengers were affected yesterday as the unofficial industrial dispute by Iarnród Éireann drivers spread from Cork to other routes.
Dozens of services between Dublin, Cork, Galway and other parts of the south and west were cancelled or disrupted due to the action.
Mainline and commuter services from Cork were affected with 18 services between Cork and Heuston Station being cancelled, along with all commuter services on the Cobh-Cork-Mallow line.
Also affected were morning services from Tralee to Heuston Station and an evening service from Heuston Station to Tralee, but some seven Heuston Station to Cork services and six from Cork to Heuston Station did operate, with bus transfers to and from Mallow to connect with train services.
Iarnród Éireann management attempted to provide alternative connections via bus transfers to Mallow on trains with Dublin crews operating to and from the north Cork station. Some 3,000 passengers were transferred by bus to Mallow but many others opted to drive to Mallow once they knew a return service was going to operate from there, according to Iarnród Éireann's business development manager in Cork, Andrew Roche.
Among those affected by the disruption were Sharon Callinan and her son, Graham (9), from Gurranebraher in Cork city. They were due to get the 10.30am train to Dublin but instead were being taken to Mallow by bus.
"We're going up to Crumlin hospital to see my other son, Ciarán. He was burnt with petrol in Cork a month ago and he's in a critical condition in intensive care there. If it wasn't for the bus transfer, though, I don't know how we'd get up," said Ms Callinan.
Some 6,000 to 7,000 rail passengers travelling between Dublin and the west were affected by yesterday's action, Iarnród Éireann's services manager for the west, Myles McHugh, estimated.
Some services did run from Galway, Westport and through Athlone to Dublin, but evening services out of Dublin to Galway and Westport were all cancelled. Among commuters affected in Galway were several groups of tourists, and people travelling to the Bruce Springsteen concert.
"We are continuing to encourage our western-based drivers to resume normal working, on the basis that they don't have any dispute with the company," Mr McHugh said yesterday evening. "Were that to happen, we would be hopeful that normal schedules would resume."
Today: 05.15 Cork-Heuston;
06.30 Cork-Heuston; 07.30 Cork-Heuston; 08.30 Cork-Heuston; 09.30 Cork-Heuston; 10.00 Heuston-Cork; 11.00 Heuston-Cork;
12.00 Heuston-Cork; 13.00 Heuston-Cork; 13.30 Cork- Heuston; 14.30 Cork-Heuston; 15.30 Cork-Heuston; 16.30 Cork- Heuston; 17.30 Cork-Heuston; 18.00 Heuston-Cork; 19.00 Heuston-Cork; 20.00 Heuston-Cork; 21.00 Heuston-Cork; 07.15 Tralee- Heuston; 18.30 Heuston-Tralee.
All Cork/Cobh and Cork/Mallow services
All Cork/Tralee services