Friday’s train strike: What you need to know

Travel chaos looms in the morning for rail commuters as talks to avert a planned rail strike from 6am-9 am tomorrow morning have seemingly collapsed.

Drivers plan to stop work for three hours during the morning rush hour in a dispute over past productivity.

Talks had taken place at the Workplace Relations Commission between management at Iarnród Éireann and the trade unions Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union, but collapsed at about 9pm.

What time is the strike set to go ahead?

Drivers are due to stage rush hour stoppages from 6am to 9am tomorrow and on Friday, November 6th. All rail services – Dart, Commuter and Intercity – will be affected.

Irish Rail said no Dart or Commuter services will operate prior to 10am. A limited service may operate from 10am with some disruption possible up to midday.

Irish Rail said Intercity services cannot be guaranteed before 2pm and there may be a “limited service” from 9am-2pm.

Will trains scheduled before 6am continue to run?

An Irish Rail spokesman confirmed trains that leave before the planned strike at 6am will continue to travel as normal, so forget about pulling that sickie.

The following services prior to 6am are expected to operate:

05:40 Dundalk Pearse will operate to Connolly only

05:27 Connolly Maynooth will operate

05:40 Longford Pearse will operate to Connolly only

06:50 Belfast Connolly will operate

08:00 Belfast Connolly will operate

05:45 Sligo Connolly will operate

05:35 Rosslare Dundalk will operate

05:55 Gorey Connolly will operate

05:40 Portlaoise Heuston will operate

05:50 Cork Heuston will operate

05:30 Cork Cobh will operate

05:45 Cork Midleton will operate

05:55 Tralee Mallow will operate

05:30 Limerick Heuston will operate

05:55 Limerick Galway will operate

05:30 Galway Heuston will operate

05:20 Athlone Heuston will operate

05:20 Westport Heuston will operate to Athlone only

What about the DART?

No DART services will operate between 6-9am on Friday morning. However, DART services will resume with the following services:

09:40 Bray Malahide

10:00 Greystones Howth

09:45 Howth Bray

10:30 Malahide Greystones

Meanwhile, Commuter services will resume with the following services:

09:35 Drogheda Pearse

11:00 Dundalk Pearse

09:10 Maynooth Pearse

09:22 Connolly Maynooth

09:10 Portlaoise Heuston

09:20 Heuston Pearse

09:00 Cork Cobh

09:30 Cobh Cork

09:15 Cork Midleton

09:45 Midleton Cork

Intercity Services will resume at 9am with the exception of the following services which will not operate:

10:35 Belfast Connolly

09:05 Tralee Mallow

10:05 Ballybrophy Limerick

09:47 Limerick Junction Waterford

10:15 Heuston Waterford

How many train services will be cancelled?

A total of 41 Dart services, 45 Dublin Commuter services, 30 Cork Commuter services, and 42 Intercity/regional services will be cancelled based on current information.

Will Irish Rail put on extra carriages on the earlier trains?

An Irish Rail spokesman said they will maximise capacity where possible in response to demand. “However, we will need to ensure that as far as possible we have correct capacity on sets for the afternoon and evening Intercity services to meet the peak bank holiday Friday,” he said.

I bought a ticket online, what can I do?

Online customers who are booked to travel during the hours of disruption on Friday, October 23rd can use their tickets on any of the following services and no surcharge will apply: Thursday, October 22nd at any time, Friday, October 23rd at a later time or Saturday, October 24th at any time.

Alternatively, customers can submit their ticket and receive a full refund. On receipt of the ticket the refund will be processed and their card credited within 7-10 days.

What alternative options do I have?

All Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Luas services will operate normally. Some private bus operators have increased capacity and have been permitted to provide additional services on the days of industrial action. Full details on transportforireland.ie.

Dublin Bus said its full fleet will be deployed during the morning peak time but services are expected to be busier than normal. They advise customers to leave additional time for their journey on Friday morning.

Can I use my train ticket on bus services instead?

No. Dublin Bus said it is not in a position to honour Irish Rail tickets on their services during this period of industrial action.

I have a Taxsaver ticket, how will this affect me?

Iarnród Éireann said customers who purchase their tickets through their company as part of the Taxsaver scheme can apply for a refund for the day that their travel plans were impacted by the industrial action.

The Taxsaver refund form is available through the Irish Rail website, and should be completed from Tuesday, October 27th onwards.

Why are train drivers striking?

The dispute centres on claims by train drivers for payment for past productivity measures such as taking on new safety responsibilities and operating new services. Iarnród Éireann has said it is willing to share benefits arising from future productivity measures undertaken by drivers.

Iarnród Éireann has said it is losing about €1 million a month.The company has said it must achieve savings to deliver productivity and it believed that issues described as “past productivity” had previously been decided upon by the Labour Court or were issues largely concerning codifying of existing safety regulations.

But wait, there’s more hardship for commuters.

In addition, due to major engineering works between Pearse and Malahide there will be no train service between Pearse and Howth / Malahide.

Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th and Monday October 26th. The following Dart stations will be closed:

Portmarnock

Clongriffin

Howth

Sutton

Bayside

Howth Junction & Donaghmede

Kilbarrack

Raheny

Harmonstown

Killester

Clontarf Roadd

Tara Street

Dart services will operate to/from Pearse, Bray and Greystones only.