Train users in the Republic are set to reap the benefits of the most significant investment in the country's rail network through savings in travel times, greater reliability and increased frequency of services, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen predicted yesterday.

Mr Cullen was speaking yesterday as the first of 67 new carriages to the Iarnród Éireann intercity fleet arrived at Kent Station in Cork. These form part of a €501 million invested in 253 new carriages, the bulk of them on intercity routes around the State.

"In the past five years, the company has virtually rebuilt the railway network.

"The railway infrastructure in Ireland has moved to a 21st century standard," Mr Cullen said.

"Passenger numbers have increased substantially and, last year, Iarnród Éireann carried nearly 38 million passengers, making it the fastest growing railway network in Europe.

"All of the work carried out on the railway fixed infrastructure is largely unseen by the travelling public, but with the entry into service of the new carriages we will now reap the rewards of this investment," the Minister said.

"The improvements in terms of time savings, reliability, frequencies and comfort will now be evident to all who use the Intercity network."

The introduction of the 67 new carriages later this year on the Cork-Dublin route will see an hourly service operate each way between Cork and Dublin, which doubles the frequency of trains on the route and increases the passenger capacity by over 80 per cent to some 16,000 passengers daily.

CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann chairman Dr John Lynch said that, with the introduction of the new fleet, Iarnród Éireann was "delivering tangible benefits directly to our Cork-Dublin customers", while further orders have already been placed for the rest of Iarnród Éireann's national network.

The new carriages were manufactured by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of San Sebastian in Spain and are the first dedicated intercity trains introduced into the Iarnród Éireann fleet for more than 20 years.

The CAF carriages will be configured into eight carriage trains, comprising five standard class vehicles, a cafe-style dining carriage, a first-class section and a control vehicle.

Each eight-carriage train will provide seating for 423 passengers. All of the new carriages will have facilities for people with disabilities.