Promise to improve catering on Irish Rail services

Commitment given to improve catering on Irish Rail services


Michael Duffy

IARNRÓD Éireann service planning manager for the western region, Myles McHugh, has said that catering on services leaving Mayo will be improved greatly in the coming months.
Mr McHugh made his comments after addressing last week’s meeting of Mayo County Council, where he made a presentation on the current state of the company and answered a whole host of questions from councillors.
Catering on trains leaving Mayo has become a hot topic in recent months with numerous customers complaining that they could not even get a hot drink on their three-and-a-half-hour trek to Dublin. A number of councillors mentioned catering as the main problem customers experienced but Mr McHugh said he had recently pressed home the need for reform of the service with providers, Rail Gourmet.
“I have held detailed discussions with the providers and I pushed the case for an improved service on the trains from Westport. I would hope there will be noticeable improvement in the near future.”
Mr McHugh, in his address to councillors, said since the 1980s when the rail network was in serious decline, the company had first focused on rebuilding, upgrading track and level crossings and signaling had also been completely overhauled.
“We had to get the foundation right, we had to make sure our lines were safe, but our focus is now on rolling stock and €2 billion will be spent in the next decade. The Inter City Rail Cars, which are being rolled out, are as good as what you will get anywhere in Europe. By the middle of next year, Ireland will have the youngest rail fleet in Europe.”
Mr McHugh also went on to say the new 2009 Inter City Timetable was currently being drafted and it was planned to provide five services a day to Mayo, incorporating an ‘Early Bird’ service which would have customers in Dublin by 9am. Work on Phase 1 of the Western Rail Corridor was also being progressed and the line being laid would last for 100 years. Mr McHugh said he was also confident that the Government would push ahead with Phase 2 and Phase 3, which will join the line to Claremorris, before 2015.
Another major issue which was raised by numerous councillors, and County Manager Des Mahon, was that all of the Westport trains were dropping customers off at Platform 8, which can be exposed to the elements and is a long walk from buses, the Luas and taxis.
Mr McHugh said work was ongoing on the revamping of Heuston Station and the final plan would see all the platforms closed off to the elements. He also gave a commitment to push for the extra services from Westport to arrive on the platforms which travel all the way into the station.
The County Manager thanked Mr McHugh for attending the meeting and said that great strides had been made by the company, the stations were of great standard and punctuality had improved over the years. He said the public feel that catering on trains was better ten or 20 years ago and this, along with the platforms issue, were the main issues exercising the brains of the public. Mr Mahon also said that when the Early Bird service was introduced, it would be helpful if a newspaper was also provided to purchase on the train.
Mr McHugh said that it was important that the public should let Iarnród Éireann know if they had any complaints and he told the County Manager he inquire about making newspapers available on the Early Bird service.