The failure to bring back the catering trolley on all Irish Rail routes is “unacceptable”, Rail Users Ireland has argued.
During the pandemic, the service was scrapped as a non-essential service in a time of crisis.
Since then, the service has returned on the Dublin to Cork route and Enterprise services to Belfast.
On all other routes, there is no trolley service and apparently no chance of it returning any time soon.
“Irish Rail has appointed a vendor to provide the service,” Rail Users Ireland spokesperson Mark Gleeson told The Hard Shoulder.
“The National Transport Authority has declined to fund it.
“So, we’re looking at about €2.5 million a year as the subsidy required.
“It is, unfortunately, a loss making business.”
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It is, Mr Gleeson continued, a pity because the trolley is an extremely popular bonus of travelling by train and one of the key factors that differentiates train travel from other transport options.
“It’s great going to Belfast, you can actually get a hot meal,” he said.
“That is the differentiator that makes the train better than going by car or bus; you can do it productively and you can get fed.
“Going to Sligo over three hours, going to Westport, three and a half hours, going to Tralee in four hours, it's unacceptable that you can't get a glass of water.”
Despite the popularity of the service and the frequent pleas of politicians, it seems that the impediment is money.
“The National Transport Authority have decided they will not give Irish Rail the €2.5 million necessary to fund that,” Mr Gleeson said.
“€2.5 million will buy you one railway carriage per year - so, that's the trade off.
“We either can use that €2.5 million either to get a cup of tea or we add one carriage to the fleet each year.”
However, Mr Gleeson added there are many other issues of concern for passengers, noting many services are “so busy” the trolley would not be able to operate.
“It's not the big thing coming in from passengers on the ground,” he said.
“They're more worried about getting a seat, getting there on time and the train showing up and showing up on time.
“The tea is a secondary issue, but it's embarrassing at this point that we can't sort it out and we're investing billions. We can't find €2.5 million for a cup of tea.”
The NTA has been contacted for comment.
Main image: The trolley service on the train to Belfast. Picture by: Alamy.com.
