THERE HAVE BEEN severe disruptions to services and significant damage done after a train travelling from Dublin to Galway hit a herd of cattle near Tullamore.

The 15.35 Heuston to Galway train collided with 8 cattle at a level crossing near Tullamore in the past hour.

It is thought that the cattle have all died in the incident.

Speaking this evening on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Irish Rail spokesperson Jane Cregan said that the cattle may have gotten onto the tracks via the level crossing

“There’s a level crossing in that area, we believe that that’s how they got onto the line. But again we’re investigating that so we don’t have exact confirmation of how that happened at present,” she said.

Cregan said that as a result of the collision there was “very significant damage to the train”.

A relief train arrived and the passengers were removed from the train and reboarded. Passengers were delayed by about three hours in total. While they waited, crew brought extra bottled water for them to drink in the heat.

No passengers or crew were injured in the incident.

Cregan said that it was “awful” that the incident had occurred.

Knock-on delays have affected the 18.15 service from Westport to Heuston and the 19.20 Galway to Heuston service as well as trains coming from Dublin.

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