There were cancellations this morning on the Cork-Heuston, Galway-Heuston, Athlone-Heuston, and Westport-Heuston routes. Services from Cork to Tralee and Mallow have also been affected.

Other services are running between Dublin and Cork, with bus transfers between Mallow and Cork.

Iarnród Éireann said further disruption is likely on Galway, Westport and Athlone services, and that disruption is expected in Cork throughout the day, with commuter services remaining suspended.

Many Cork/Dublin and Cork/Tralee services will be cancelled, with other services operating between Dublin and Mallow only.

As many as 15,000 passengers may be affected by this morning's action as the dispute escalates. The 10.30am and 11.30am Cork-Heuston trains are expected to operate from Mallow only, with bus transfers from Cork to Mallow, Iarnród Éireann said.

All Cork-Cobh and Cork-Mallow commuter services were expected to be cancelled, and customers have been advised to make alternative arrangements.

Services to and from Cork were hit yesterday morning after drivers operating out of Cork's Ceannt Station - members of the National Bus and Rail Union and Siptu - refused to operate trains in support of a colleague who was taken off the payroll.

According to Iarnród Éireann, the stoppage began after a refusal by a Cork-based driver to drive his train within his core roster on Thursday, to allow for training of new trainee drivers.

Union sources last night said senior management at Iarnród Éireann had orchestrated the dispute in Cork yesterday, and appealed to the company to take steps to resolve the row before it escalated.

Management has strongly denied this allegation.

See also:

Disruption as rail dispute escalates

RTE: 23 May 2008

There has been an escalation in the Iarnród Éireann dispute.

Unofficial action by drivers has disrupted services into and out of Cork's Kent Station this morning, stopping services between Cork and Dublin and Cork and Tralee.

The row has spread to early services out of Galway, Westport and Athlone.

Services to Cobh and Mallow are also affected.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesman has said the drivers' refusal to facilitate the training of other drivers was unjustified.

Iarnród Éireann said its website would be updated throughout the morning. Full updated service information is available on 1850-366222.

Five early morning services from Cork to Heuston were cancelled this morning.

All Cork/Cobh and Cork/Mallow services are cancelled as were a number of services between Cork and Tralee, Galway and Heuston, Athlone and Heuston and Westport and Heuston. The 11.10am service from Heuston to Galway is also cancelled.

Some services have been operating between Dublin and Mallow, with bus transfers between Mallow and Cork. They will include the
10.30am and 11.30am Cork to Heuston services.

For trains operating to and from Galway, the 7.10am Heuston to Galway and 10.50am Galway to Heuston were due to operate as normal.

Iarnród Éireann says further disruption is likely on Galway, Westport and Athlone services.

Disruption is expected to continue in Cork throughout the day, with commuter services remaining suspended; many Cork to Dublin and Cork to Tralee services cancelled, and other services operating between Dublin and Mallow only.

All other routes are operating normally.

See also:

MORNING RAIL SERVICES FROM GALWAY CANCELLED

Galway News: 23rd May 2008

There's further rail service cancellations to Galway this morning after an escalation of a strike by Iarnród Eireann train drivers.

The company has just been forced to cancel the 9.10 Heuston to Galway and the 11.10 Heuston to Galway trains.

However the 10.50 Galway to Heuston train will run as normal and the 7.10 Heuston to Galway is also running normally.

Other Galway early morning services cancelled, include the 5.20 Galway - Heuston service, the 7.15 Galway - Heuston and 7.20 Athlone to Galway services.

Further disruption is likely on Galway, Westport and Athlone services and Iarnród Eireann will be updating customers throughout the day.

The chaos was triggered after a driver was removed from the pay roll for refusing to co-operate with the training of new recruits.

See also:

Commuter misery to continue in row over rail roster

Irish Independent: May 23 2008
Michelle McDonagh

COMMUTERS face more misery today as a result of an unofficial rail dispute in Cork, where industrial action caused disruption to thousands of passengers yesterday.

All Cork-Dublin services were cancelled between 11am and 5.30pm. Services from Dublin to Kent Station in Cork were cancelled from 6pm, and the 6.30pm Dublin-Tralee train was also hit by the Cork-based drivers' action.

A number of Cork commuter services serving Cobh and Mallow were also affected by the dispute over driver rosters.

A spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann said it was likely that today's services from Cork to Dublin, up to and including the 9.30am Cork-Dublin service, would be cancelled.

"The 10.30am and 11.30am Cork to Heuston are expected to operate from Mallow only, with bus transfers from Cork to Mallow. The 7am and 8am Heuston to Cork services are likely to operate to Mallow only, with bus transfers from Mallow to Cork. The remaining morning services are likely to be cancelled," he warned

"All Cork to Cobh and Cork to Mallow commuter services are expected to be cancelled, and customers are advised to make alternative arrangements.''

The spokesman added that some Cork-Tralee services were expected to be cancelled, with others operating between Tralee and Mallow only.

He said the stoppage began with the refusal of a Cork-based driver to drive within core roster hours yesterday morning, to facilitate the training of new drivers. The spokesman said Iarnrod Eireann would try to provide bus transfers on some of the affected Dublin-Cork, and Cork-Mallow services.

At the time of going to press, there no comment from SIPTU on behalf of the rail workers. The Iarnrod Eireann spokesman said service information would be updated as soon as it became available.

Negotiations

He claimed the action by drivers followed months of non-cooperation with the training of new drivers, and numerous refusals to drive trains within normal rosters.

"Iarnrod Eireann has patiently endeavoured to resolve these issues by engaging in the agreed industrial relations machinery," he added.

The Labour Relations Commission and the drivers' unions, SIPTU and NBRU, had told drivers to cooperate with training and to drive normally within core rosters as the basis for continuing talks.

"The situation has now become unsustainable and intolerable. Iarnrod Eireann has already increased the number of drivers by over 50pc over the past eight years," he added.