Irish Rail must 'up its game' as too-short trains are causing 'chaos' on busy Cobh line 

Irish Rail has been told to ‘up its game’ with services it provides to one of the country’s leading tourist hotspots during its peak season for cruise liner visits.

It's been claimed chaotic scenes were witnessed in Cobh and Cork railway stations last summer and people were being allegedly left behind because normally the company only puts on two carriages.

[/url]This sometimes went up to three but still wasn’t adequate, especially when the larger cruise liners were docked in Cobh and people wanted to go and see them.

In addition, many liner passengers sought to take the train to visit the city.

It's been suggested that Cobh businesses are losing out as people walk away when the trains are full in the city and the transport company itself is also missing the chance to gain significant revenue due to this oversight.

The issue was raised at a meeting of the Cobh Municipal District Council by Labour councillor Cathal Rasmussen who said Irish Rail must address the problems prior to next summer.

Representatives from the transport company are to be invited to a council meeting to discuss how they’re going ‘to up their game’ for the 2027 cruise liner season.

“There were loads of complaints about this made to the tourist office in Cobh. When there were two or even three carriages on when big liners came in here there were many people left behind on the platforms. 

"I have no doubt some people decided not to come to the town as a result. It's been a disaster,” Mr Rasmussen said.

He said as a result businesses in Cobh were losing out on tourism revenue and Irish Rail itself was also not capturing the revenue it could.

Mr Rasmussen said 98 liners visited Cork this year. Some were small but other far larger ones were carrying thousands of passengers and crew.

“It’s not rocket science for Irish Rail to look at the ships due into port and put on appropriate carriage numbers in accordance with their size. They should put on five carriages for the larger ones,” Mr Rasmussen said.

He said the knock-on impact of having crammed trains is that by the time they get to Glounthaune or Little Island they are at capacity and locals waiting there can’t get on them.

“There is a health and safety issue with people crammed likes sardines on the trains and on the platforms waiting for them. The optics look terrible,” Mr Rasmussen said.

Carrigtwohill-based Fine Gael councillor Anthony Barry said there are ongoing issues at his local station as the Cork-Midleton trains which run through there are often standing room only, as there aren’t enough carriages being put on that service either.