Confusion lingers over cause of morning rail alert

Dublin Port Tunnel engineers and Iarnród Éireann officials are meeting this afternoon to discuss the safety alert that delayed…

Dublin Port Tunnel engineers and Iarnród Éireann officials are meeting this afternoon to discuss the safety alert that delayed rush-hour trains in North Dublin this morning.

Dublin Port Authority this afternoon confirmed that, contrary to earlier reports of a false alarm, monitoring equipment correctly detected a fault on the rail lines at Fairview.

"We have an automatic system monitoring the level of the railway line at Fairview, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and it was triggered this morning", said Mr Sean Wynne, project engineer for Dublin Port Tunnel.

"It's a very conservative system, as it needs to be. I'm sorry rail passengers were inconvenienced this morning but we have to maintain safety at all times," he said.

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However, an Iarnród Éireann statement this afternoon stated their engineers found no subsidence, gauge fault or damage to the line. They also stressed there was no danger to customers.

Iarnród Éireann said: "This morning’s incident serves to demonstrate that Iarnród Éireann, Dublin Port Tunnel and the Port Tunnel contractors are working closely together and will take whatever action is required to protect the safety of rail customers".

Rail services out of Connolly Station as far as Killester DART were affected for an hour when automatic alarms on the DART and mainline rails activated at about 7 a.m.

Commuters from the North Dublin region and those using services on the Drogheda and Belfast lines suffered delays as speed restrictions were imposed.