Kerry has the worst train carriages and the worst service in the country, Iarnród Éireann officials have been told by Kerry councillors.
Kerry rail travellers, as well as thousands of tourists, are treated as "second class citizens" compared to Cork passengers, with sub-standard carriages, poor or no catering facilities and much longer rail journeys than even 10 years ago. Instead of a sub-standard service Iarnród Éireann should have a "western express" luxury carriage service to Kerry to attract tourists keen on rail travel, said Labour councillor Ms Miriam McGillycuddy.
Customers were being "thrown away" from the rail line to the plane and the car and the Mallow connection, and it was a question of wooing them back, she added.
Passengers were driving to Mallow from Killarney and Tralee to avail of better carriages, better trains and a faster service to Dublin, said Fianna Fáil councillor Ms Norma Foley.
In turn, anyone trying to get to Kerry by rail from Mallow entered "the Bermuda triangle", Ms Foley added.
"Off the radar go the good carriages and the ghost trains that haven't changed since our grandparents' time come out.
"We are a tourist county, fighting to hold onto our tourists. We need the infrastructure . . . we have an infrastructure fighting against us all the way," she said.
Mr Andrew Roche, of Iarnród Éireann, said there were plans for feeder trains from Kerry and other counties onto the Cork line.
He said expressions of interest had been invited from train builders for new regional carriages for this service.
However, their deployment depended on direct Government funding of around €30 million. It would be at least three years before they were in place and the service improved.
Kerry had the oldest signalling system in Ireland, and this was being replaced.
He said that a new ticket system to be introduced shortly would make tickets train and time specific, and this should tackle overcrowding at weekends.
Mr Roche accepted that many of the carriages in Kerry were "totally unsuitable" and not built for modern needs.
Kerry should get a better service, he added.