TRAIN DERAILMENT:PASSENGERS TRAVELLING from Dublin to Cork on Saturday escaped injury when their train was partially derailed following a landslide.
Shortly before midday the train ground to a halt after the driver rounded a bend south of Portarlington and was confronted with debris which had slid on to the track following heavy rain.
Iarnród Éireann are investigating the incident, and the driver has been treated for shock.
John Casey from Sutton, Dublin, who was a passenger in the first carriage, described how there was a jolt and a large number of rocks from between the sleepers hurtled past the window. "It was a most extraordinary sight. One of them hit the window just behind me. It didn't shatter; it was like as if your windscreen got hit by a stone."
The train came to a stop quickly and he said passengers were given information almost immediately and were kept informed.
Josephine O'Grady from Rathfarnham, Dublin, found that initial moment "very, very scary because you're getting enveloped in smoke and you're inside".
She was one of many passengers who expressed her satisfaction with the way the situation was handled.
"My admiration goes out to the engine driver. He didn't panic . . . Lots of the workers on the line came to the carriages several times to make sure that everyone was all right and offered tea and coffee free," she said.
Barry Kenny of Irish Rail said that staff were concerned about the safety of the area where the incident happened.
Conditions underfoot were far from ideal and severe weather and flooding meant that the train was "the safest place for people, being comfortable, warm and dry".
It was 5pm before the last of the passengers had disembarked and boarded buses to Cork, Kerry and Tipperary or to return to Dublin.
The incident led to delays on the line, and the introduction of a lower speed limit over the weekend.