Sir, - I am writing this from the 7.20 am train from Dublin to Galway which is, once again, inexplicably stranded on the westward tracks.
I have been using this train for months now, every Wednesday, and it has never left Dublin at 7.20. It normally slides out of Heuston somewhere between 7.25 and 7.30. It is inadvisable to rely, ever, on this train reaching Galway by 10.00 am, as it is scheduled to do.
The 3.25 pm from Galway back to Dublin is far more likely to leave on time, but it tends to get stranded en route for longer periods. Some weeks ago, we were stuck in Ballinasloe for some 50 minutes. Business aside, this played havoc with a very finely tuned breastfeeding routine and had me holed up in the darkened toilet (light broken) expelling milk for all I was worth.
As I write, a strangled voice comes over the Tannoy: "If there's any passengers on the train for Clara, will they please proceed to the top of the train so as to alight in Tullamore." There is, no doubt, a logic here somewhere.
Iarnrod Eireann sells itself by advising us all to let someone else do the driving, but at this rate, I'm thinking about taking to the roads again. What a pity, as the train breakfast is great and the new Cu na Mara trains are very comfortable. But today the train due to arrive in Galway at 10.00 am finally shudders to a halt on the windswept western seaboard at 10.44 am. Come on lads, what's the problem? - Yours, etc.,
Leeson Park Avenue,
Dublin 6.