Irish Rail journeys are up despite two days of industrial action in August.

Train journeys on the national rail network are up by half a million in the first nine months of 2014, compared to the same period last year.

Irish Rail says the reasons for the increase in rail journeys include student travel offers, economic recovery and additional business from major events including the National Ploughing Championships.

The company says 28.6 million journeys were made in the year up to 5th October, an increase from 28.1 million in the same period last year.

Intercity and Commuter figures were up by 3.3% and 1.6% respectively, while DART figures remained stable at 12.3 million.

Irish Rail's Chief Executive David Franks said, "Last year saw a stabilisation in passenger numbers after a number of years of decline. It is encouraging to see an increase in passenger numbers once again right across our network, with the early weeks of Q4 strengthening further.

"Business growth will be the one of our key areas of focus in addressing the very difficult financial situation facing the company,” he added.