New Laois service in Irish Rail timetable changes
Irish Rail has announced planned changes to some Laois rail services following public consultation.
The move is part of a raft of changes nationwide and due to start from Sunday, December 11.
Irish Rail had submissions from 1,553 people across Ireland as part of the national consultation.
In Laois it accepted a proposal to introduce an earlier Sunday morning service from Portlaoise. It also accepted proposals to advance the 10:08am Ballybrophy to Limerick (via Nenagh) to 09:05am.
Irish Rail also advised of improved journey times on Limerick/Ballybrophy services via Nenagh due to recent infrastructure works, resulting in a 15-minute time saving.
However, the national rail operator said it doesn’t have sufficient staff to adopt another proposal that would have seen later train services for Portlaoise.
In relation to requests for a later last train, Irish Rail stated: “Driver resources not available for implementation for December 2022. IÉ in conjunction with the NTA will continue to investigate possibilities for implementation at a later stage.”
“It was not possible to address a number of requested changes in this consultation due to available driver resources. Certain driver training programmes were deferred due to COVID-19 restrictions. However, Iarnród Éireann will review these requests as more drivers become available in 2023 and beyond,” Irish Rail stated.
The proposed new timetable will begin on Sunday, December 11. For a full list of changes and details of submissions and response to consultation see: https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/news/proposed-timetable-changes-from-11th-december-2022