There was severe disruption to rail services yesterday after a man's body was found on the line south of Sallins, Co Kildare.
Commuter and intercity services to and from Heuston Station in Dublin were suspended for more than two hours after the discovery of a man's body at about 6am yesterday.
The body was spotted by the driver of an empty train which was on its way to start commuter runs back to Heuston Station, and emergency services were quickly called to the scene.
The discovery was made at a section of line where a bridge crosses the river Liffey.
Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnród Éireann, said that delays took longer than normal to clear because the body was found on a part of the line that was inaccessible by road and it took emergency services some time to reach the location.
Gardaí also had to investigate the circumstances of the discovery, but they are not treating the man's death as suspicious.
About a dozen early morning services were cancelled as a result of the find, while some trains were delayed by up to two hours.
The line reopened at 8.25am with a five mile an hour restriction as emergency services were still attending the scene.
The body was removed from the side of the track shortly after 10am.
Mr Kenny said that every train that came in and out of Heuston Station had to pass through the area where the man's body was found.
This included Kildare commuter services and longer distance services from Carlow, Portlaoise, Athlone, Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Westport.
Iarnód Éireann sent empty trains to pick up inbound passengers who were stranded at stations outside Dublin.
By 11am yesterday morning, the backlog was beginning to be cleared.
The 9.15am service from Cork and the 9.50am service from Limerick were delayed by 95 minutes and the 9am service to Cork was delayed by 90 minutes, but there were minor delays until normal service resumed at 3pm.
Mr Kenny said that many people had made alternative travel arrangements when they heard of the delays and that they had been "overwhelmingly understanding" of the situation.
Although the delays were out of the rail operator's control, Iarnród Éireann would, as a matter of policy, offer refund vouchers of 50 per cent for people who experienced more than an hour's delay and full refunds for those delayed by more than two hours, he said.
AA Roadwatch said that traffic coming into the city was slightly busier than normal, particularly on the N7, until about 11am yesterday.