Cork rail passengers encouraged to book in advance ahead of 'busiest weekend' on services since before pandemic

Irish Rail has reminded Cork customers intending to travel by rail over the June Bank Holiday weekend to book Intercity travel as soon as possible.

The June Bank Holiday weekend will see an unprecedented number of major events taking place across the country, which is expected to result in the busiest weekend on rail and all transport services since before the pandemic.

Over 200,000 customers will travel on Intercity rail services alone over the duration of the weekend.

A number of trains on the Cork and Kerry to Dublin routes have already sold out for Thursday, June 2 and Saturday, June 4, as well as trains to and from GAA fixtures across the weekend.

Irish Rail has said that as a result, pre-booking of Intercity travel is essential across the weekend, as many more trains are expected to sell out.

Additional services will operate where possible and maximise capacity to meet the expected demand.

All Intercity services can be booked in advance at www.irishrail.ie, with Cork Commuter services are also expected to see high demand.

Events taking place include Bloom festival at Phoenix Park, the Women’s Mini-Marathon, Cork City Marathon, Munster Hurling Final at Semple Stadium, GAA Football Championship fixtures, Forbidden Fruit Festival in Kilmainham, Rise Live Festival in Galway, The Cat Laughs Festival in Kilkenny, Live from the Marquee in Cork, Wildroots Festival in Sligo and Live @ The Docklands in Limerick, as well as many Cobh cruise ship visits.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said: “The June weekend really feels like the weekend when the whole country is celebrating a return to better times, with so many sports, cultural and music events taking place.

We want everyone who travels with us on Intercity services to do so in comfort, so we urge all intending to travel to book immediately.

“These trains will sell out, and with rail fares now 20% lower following public transport fare cuts in recent weeks, customers will be able to avoid both congestion and higher fuel costs by booking today.”