The end of 2014 finally brought some cheer for troubled Iarnród Éireann with news that passengers journeys had increased over the year by almost one million compared with those for 2013.
After a number of years of falling passenger journeys – brought about by the recession, with stabilisation during 2013 – the growth marks a welcome return to form for both Iarnród Éireann and the wider economy in Ireland.
Across the network some 37.6 million journeys were made on Intercity, DART and Commuter services in 2014 – up from 36.7 million the previous year.
The regional service between Galway and Limerick, known as the ‘Western Rail Corridor’, saw the largest growth on the network with journeys made increasing by almost 75 per cent from 29,000 in 2013 to 50,000 in 2014.
Following a challenging year which brought funding reductions and huge budget constraints that even required staff to accept pay cuts, David Franks, chief executive of Iarnród Éireann, spoke of the results and found the return to growth hugely encouraging, saying, ‘We will target further growth throughout 2015 working with business and tourism and researching our customer needs to develop our services further.
‘Together with continued cost control, and working with the NTA and Department of Transport on the future sustainability of Iarnród Éireann, we hope 2014 marks a key moment in the development of our railway.’
Read Tim Casterton’s full report in the January issue of RailStaff
Edited by Marc Johnson
