A delay of three hours and 10 minutes on the Sunday evening train from Sligo to Dublin has led to renewed criticism of Iarnrod Eireann and the standard of service on the line.
Around 300 passengers had to wait in Carrick-on-Shannon for three hours after the engine failed as efforts were made first to get buses and then a replacement engine. The passengers who boarded the train in Sligo at 6.20 p.m. did not arrive in Dublin until after 12.30 a.m.
Because it is a single-track line, a train travelling in the opposite direction was also delayed for 2-1/2 hours, although buses were provided to take about half of these passengers to Sligo.
A student at Maynooth University, Mr Brendan Travers, left home at Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, at 5 p.m. to get the train in Sligo. "We didn't get to Maynooth until 12.15 - I could have flown to New York quicker," he said.
"First we were told we would get a bus transfer, but nothing happened for about an hour and a half, and then they said they were getting another engine. "Some people were trying to get to the airport and were talking about getting taxis from Carrick-on-Shannon," he said.
The trains used on the line date from the 1970s and there have been frequent problems. During the cold spell at Christmas the heating systems failed and were not fully repaired for 10 days. In the past, in very warm weather the heating could not be turned off and people had to be allowed off to buy cold drinks and cool down.
The president of Sligo Chamber of Commerce, Mr Jim Lawlor, said he believed Iarnrod Eireann needed to examine its maintenance operations.
"Local staff made every effort to get people to their destinations as quickly as possible but what this essentially indicates is a need for improved maintenance."
He said many parents of students travelling on the train on Sunday night were worried about them arriving in Dublin after midnight without the money to get taxis home.
Iarnrod Eireann spokesman Mr Barry Kenny apologised to passengers and said they would get a full refund. He said it was "the worst delay on any route for a long time".
Mr Kenny said punctuality on the Sligo route had been very good in the first few weeks of the year and he did not accept that maintenance work was inadequate.
"The maintenance is being done but unfortunately this problem developed. It shouldn't have arisen but unfortunately it did," he said.