Iarnród Éireann

See also: rail transport in Ireland

Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail

Iarnród Éireann
Company type	private limited company by shares
Industry	Infrastructure & Public Transportation State Administrator
Founded	1987
Headquarters	Dublin , Ireland
Area served	Republic of Ireland
Parent	Coras Iompair Éireann
Website	www.irishrail.ie www.iarnrodeireann.ie

File:Irish Rail.png

1987: "The Four Rails" of Irish Rail

An Iarnród Eireann commuter train at Tara Street Station, Dublin, 2006. Translated, the text on the LED reads: Destination: Pearse Station.

Class 201 no. 215 at Grand Canal Dock DART station, 2001

Iarnród Éireann (IÉ; Irish pronunciation: [ˈiəɾʲnʲˌɾʲoːdʲ ˈeːɾʲənʲ]; in English, Irish Rail) is the national railway system operator of the Republic of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal intercity, suburban and commuter railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2007, Iarnród Éireann carried 45.5 million passengers, up on 43.1 million in 2006.

Organisation

At the time of its establishment Iarnród Eireann referred to itself as Irish Rail, and introduced the four rails IR logo; however, the initials "IR" were often defaced as "IRA" on signage. The company gradually brought the Irish form of its name to the fore, ultimately introducing its current IÉcorporate branding and logo in 1994. The Irish word iarnród (alternately rendered "bóthar iarainn") translates into English as iron road, or railway. While the name "Irish Rail" was dropped from the logo, it remains part of the official company name ("Iarnród Éireann - Irish Rail") and was revived as the name of the company's online booking service, irishrail.ie, in 2006.

Operationally, services are divided across four regional areas:

• Northern and Eastern services are managed from Connolly (including Sligo in the North-West)
• Southern and Western services are managed from Heuston

Services

IÉ's services are branded under three main names; InterCity, Commuter and DART.

Intercity

InterCity services are long-distance routes radial mainly from Dublin. The Belfast - Dublin service, run in conjunction with Northern Ireland Railways, is branded separately as Enterprise. The two main InterCity stations are Connolly and Heuston, and Intercity services run to/from Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Ennis, Galway, Waterford, Rosslare Europort, Sligo, Westport and Ballina. Dublin's third major station, Pearse is the terminus for much of the suburban network in the Greater Dublin area. An additional InterCity service runs from Limerick to Waterford and Rosslare Europort, although this is currently operated by Commuter railcars

Commuter

The majority of Commuter services are based in Dublin, which in 2008 has four commuter routes. These are: Northern (Dundalk), Western (Maynooth/Longford), South Western (Newbridge/Kildare/Portlaoise) and South Eastern (Arklow). See Dublin Suburban Rail for more details. The Cork Suburban Rail currently has two Commuter services to Mallow and Cobh, with a third service to Midleton expected to become operational on the previous Midleton and Youghal branch line in 2009. Limerick Suburban Rail currently consists of two lines to Ennis and Nenagh, with shuttle services to Limerick Junction. A Commuter service is planned for Galway to Oranmore and Athenry.

Commuter trains also operate on shuttle duty for branches from the main InterCity services from Mallow to Tralee (off the Dublin - Cork route), from Manulla Junction to Ballina (off the Dublin - Westport route) as well as acting as InterCity trains for Dublin - Rosslare and some Dublin - Sligo services, as well as the aforementioned Limerick - Rosslare Europort service.

DART

Main article: Dublin Area Rapid Transit

The north-south route along Dublin's eastern coastal side is also host to DART, Ireland's only electrified heavy rail service.

Operational details

Quality of service is generally good. The Enterprise route (Dublin to Belfast) is well regarded, despite occasional problems with punctuality. These are primarily capacity related. The route is only two track and serves both local and intermediate commuter as well as intercity traffic, hence any delay has knock on effects. This is combined with limited platform availability at Connolly station in Dublin. There is also the persistent problem with engine overloading, due to the fact that Enterprise locos must also supply coach power (unlike the southern and western routes, where power is provided by separate generator vans).

The Cork - Dublin route is also quite well regarded. It was the "premier line" of the Great Southern and Western Railway, one of the biggest pre-CIE operators. Journey time and rolling stock are quite good on this route, with new Mark 4 rolling stock complete with DVTs for faster turn around now in service. Recently ordered Class 22000 DMUs from Japan have begun to come into service replacing older coaching stock on most other InterCity routes.

The maximum speed of the intercity trains on the Irish rail network is 100mph.

See also: Rail transport in Ireland

Network Catering

IÉ's Network Catering unit provided a trolley service of food and drink, a snack car and (on some routes) a restaurant service. It also operates a restaurant at Dún Laoghaire. According to Irish Rail's annual report, the unit lost €270,000 in 2004. Early in 2006, IÉ advertised for private catering contractors to take over the operation of its catering services. The service was taken over by RailGourmet in March 2007, who promptly raised prices of most items.

See also

• List of Irish companies
• List of railway stations in Ireland
• History of rail transport in Ireland
• Transportation in Ireland
• Diesel Locomotives of Ireland
• Multiple Units of Ireland
• Coaching Stock of Ireland

External links

• Official site - Timetables, bookings and operations
• Official site - Corporate Site with real-time DART info
• Eiretrains - Irish Railways Past & Present
• Irish Railway Technology and Information -reporting on all aspects of irish railways