No improvement in train services can be expected today, Iarnrod Eireann said yesterday, as the dispute with the Irish Locomotive Drivers' Association (ILDA) enters its 24th day.
A spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann said services between Dublin and Castlebar/Westport will continue to be worst affected. Trains will run only to Athlone and passengers will be taken by bus to Mayo.
Talks took place yesterday in Dublin between the company, SIPTU and the NBRU to try to secure a continuous service for the supply of ammonia from Cork to the Irish Fertilisers Industry (IFI) plant in Arklow, Co Wicklow.
IFI last week laid off its 200 workers because it could not guarantee a regular supply of raw material.
The Iarnrod Eireann spokesman said it is possible to get regular supplies of ammonia to Arklow if agreement on new rostering arrangements can be reached with SIPTU and the NBRU.
Mr Malcolm Byrne, spokesman for the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland, said yesterday tourist groups organised around rail travel have been badly affected. One casualty has been the annual Castlebar Walking Festival. Another problem is that there are no trains between Cobh and Cork City and commuters are having to arrange car pools.
Mr Byrne repeated the Chambers of Commerce call for members to take legal action against the ILDA for loss of earnings. Mr Joe Higgins TD of the Socialist Party said yesterday the ILDA case was "rational and convincing" and the Government should immediately require the management of Iarnrod Eireann to open negotiations with the breakaway train drivers' union, which it does not recognise.
Further rail chaos is threatened for Monday, August 14th, when Iarnrod Eireann's linesmen are due to take official industrial strike action. The country's 640 linesmen, known as the Permanent Way section, are members of SIPTU and voted by a three-to-one majority to reject management proposals on a range of issues.
According to Mr Patsy O'Brien, the financial package offered by the company will take three years to come into effect. "At that stage it will be eroded by inflation," he said.