Cork commuters entitled to refund after train issues this morning

Passengers were left waiting an hour for the Cork to Dublin train this morning, then squeezed into insufficient space when the train finally arrived.

Iarnród Éireann shared on X (Twitter) that the 7am Cork to Heuston service was “delayed departing Cork due to a technical issue onboard.” Later the company said that staff were continuing to work on the issue, before saying that the train was cancelled.

“The 07:00 Cork/Heuston service is cancelled this morning. The 08:00 Cork/Mallow service will operate to Heuston station and will be delayed departing as staff organise passengers in Cork,” they wrote.

They then reposted this tweet, writing “Correction - The 07:00 Cork/Heuston service is operating this morning, but it is approximately 64 minutes behind schedule and has reduced capacity. The 08:00 Cork/Mallow service has been amalgamated with the 07:00 Cork/Heuston service.” 

A passenger who had been planning to get the 7am train told The Echo: “The 7am train bound for Dublin Heuston from Cork didn’t leave Kent until 8am.

“Passengers were left waiting on the platform and were informed that the train was being serviced and was expected shortly. That announcement was made twice before passenger were informed that the only train running direct to Dublin this morning would be the 8am train.

“Passengers due to travel on the 8am train and passengers who should have been on the earlier train had to pile onto one train with four carriages which left a lot of passengers without any seat.

“There was chatter amongst passengers on the train that many of them would be late for work and for meetings in Dublin.” 

Iarnród Éireann also shared on X that the 5:40 Cork to Heuston was delayed by almost half an hour and that “The 11:00 Heuston/Cork service this morning will operate with reduced capacity due to an earlier train fault in Cork.” 

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson explained: “There was a mechanical fault on the train set that was due to operate the 07:00hrs train this morning from Cork to Heuston as a result the 07:00hrs and 08:00hrs services were amalgamated.

“We would like to apologise to any customers if they did not get a seat. Any customer who had prebooked their ticket and did not get a seat is entitled to a refund.”