Jack O' Donovan Trá was among the passengers on a train from Dublin to Cork at 7pm last night, a journey that typically takes just over three hours.
“The train stopped mid-track about three kilometres outside Portarlington,” he told Lunchtime Live.
“We had no idea what was going on. And the train driver had no idea what's going on.”
It was believed that the train in front of them had burst a water pipe and broken down, but Irish Rail later confirmed there was a fault with Mr O’Donovan Trá’s train.
“We were essentially stuck behind the train and there's only one track, so we have nowhere to go,” Mr O’Donovan Trá said.
“In the end, they had to pull the Galway train that was coming behind us onto the wrong side of the tracks, drive it alongside our train and they said, ‘Right we'll move you all off that train’.
“Everyone looked around like, ‘We’re not a platform, how are we going to get on?’.
“[The driver] said, ‘It’s fine, we’ll use the ramps’.
“The ramps were pushed between the two trains and everybody was escorted basically to walk the plank from train to train in the middle of the night.”
Using @IrishRail is truly an horrendously bad experience. Left Dublin at 21:00 and expected to arrive in Cork at 2.30am. 😵💫 currently being held hostage in field outside Kildare. pic.twitter.com/ddSPavxb8j
— Ronan Murphy (@Smarttech01) February 22, 2024
After their swift escape, Mr O’Donovan Trá and the other 400 passengers were dropped off at Portarlington station with no idea when they could leave.
“There wasn't even a vending machine there,” he said. “We had 400 people who are now already two hours behind, hungry, thirsty.
“I saw the Railway Bar was only a two-minute walk down the road, so I snuck out there quietly and had a little whiskey for myself.”
@IrishRail this is a disgrace. People freezing and wet in Portarlington now Our delay is nearly at 4 hours now. Everyone is tired, cold and very very late. I'll prob get into Tralee near 4 am !!! Another announcement now...rescue train should be here 15 mins. Not good enough ! pic.twitter.com/AQVz32t7dw
— Meadhbh Keegan (@twinkletwinmk) February 22, 2024
He said there was a sense of “collectiveness” among passengers and staff, although he was surprised by how ill-prepared Irish Rail was for the emergency.
“It was almost like Irish Rail had never had a broken-down train before,” he said. “It was such pandemonium.”
'Saviour' train arrives
Eventually, a “saviour” train arrived to collect the stranded passengers, although Mr O’Donovan Trá said he heard those passengers were also transferred to buses and different trains.
“I got home to Cahersiveen in the end just before 5am,” he said.
Irish Rail Communications Manager Barry Kenny joined the show to apologise to Mr O’Donovan Trá and the other affected passengers.
“It was the 7pm train that had the fault with the locomotive,” he said. “That’s obviously being fully investigated.”
Irish Rail also apologised for the fault on X last night and have confirmed passengers will be refunded.
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