Irish Rail: 20,000 commuters affected by major signal fault

All Irish Rail services to and from Heuston station in Dublin have resumed following a major rush hour signal fault on Tuesday morning which impacted approxiamtely 20,000 commuters.

The rail company had moved to a manual signalling system and said passengers should expect delays of up to 30 minutes on all routes.

Irish Rail spokeswoman Jane Cregan told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland earlier the, “the major signal fault has still not been rectified. A manual signalling system is now being operated... it took some time to get up and running as “signalling is extremely safety critical”. There will be knock on delays into and out of Heuston until mid morning.”

In an earlier tweet, the company warned of disruption to all services in and out of Heuston, including Newbridge/Hazelhatch to Grand Canal Dock trains and Portlaoise Commuter services.

Pat Leahy: Changing political climate helps Green shoots to thrive

---

European elections: Wallace passes out Kelleher in South constituency

---

Terminally ill woman’s medical card delay complaint upheld

---

Miriam Lord: Fall gal Maria Bailey sees dark forces at play

---

Dart, Commuter and Intercity services into and out of Connolly were not impacted except for the Phoenix Park tunnel service.

Irish Rail admitted that there were “thousands and thousands” of commuters affected by this morning’s signal failure at Heuston Station.

‘Thousands and thousands’

Speaking to RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Ms Cregan said the volume of passengers impacted made it impossible to provide a substitute bus service as is normal practice.

“Thousands and thousands are impacted, there wouldn’t be a sufficient number of buses in the country to transport those passengers.”

Ms Cregan acknowledged that some passengers were effectively stranded on trains that had already left their stations of origin, but the majority had not yet left the stations.

People intending to travel with Irish Rail are being asked to monitor Irish Rail’s social media accounts for updates.

Refunds / compensation

Irish Rail has said passengers should look at the passenger charter to see if they are eligible for a refund.

According to the charter, passengers are entitled to a compensation if they have been delayed for 60 minutes or more. Under EC regulation 1371, passengers will be offered discount vouchers to use for future tickets or the company can issue cash compensation.

In delays of 60 to 120 minutes, weekly, monthly or annual ticket holders are entitled to 25 per cent cash refund for that day pro rata, based on cost of ticket.

Intercity Single or Return ticket holders can choose between a 50 per cent in vouchers or 25 per cent in cash refund.

If there delay is longer than 120 minutes, weekly, monthly or annual ticket holders can claim 50 per cent cash refund for that day

Intercity Single or Return ticket holders will receive 100 per cent in vouchers or 50 per cent in cash refund.

To claim any discounts or refunds you're entitled to, you need to fill in an application form, which is available from the ticket offices in main stations or from the PDF on Irish Rail's website.