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Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews.ie
# bus eireann strike
Chaos for commuters with severe disruption to Irish Rail and Dublin Bus services this morning
The companies said it is due to “orchestrated picketing” associated with Bus Éireann strike.
IRISH RAIL HAS advised customers that, “due to orchestrated picketing at depots” at a number of locations, there are major disruptions across its whole network of services this Friday morning.
Also, Dublin Bus is advising it is experiencing “severe disruption” to services as a result of “organised secondary picketing at [their] depots”.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dublin Bus spokesperson Clíodhna Ní Fhátharta said that only a small number of buses made it out of the depots this morning and that the vast majority of bus services across the city and wider county would be affected.
Irish Rail, meanwhile, said it couldn’t guarantee any services across DART and Dublin Commuter, with cancellations on Intercity routes also expected.
The list of cancellations is extensive:
- DART – All services currently cancelled except the 5.40 Bray to Malahide, and the 7.00 Malahide to Bray
- Maynooth/M3 – All services cancelled
- Drogheda – Services from Drogheda/Dundalk to Dublin currently operating but no service in the opposite direction.
- Portlaoise/Kildare – All services cancelled except 5.55 and 6.35 trains to Heuston
- Athlone/Dublin, Cork/Dublin, Westport/Dublin – all cancelled.
- Limerick/Dublin, Waterford/Limerick Junction – services operating at the moment.
- There are also delays linking Dublin to Rosslare and Gorey, Belfast and Galway.
Also speaking on RTÉ, Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny said that he couldn’t “promise services would be restored later today”.
Kenny added that refunds would be provided for anyone who had bought a ticket in advance, and customers would have the option to use their tickets on later services if they return this afternoon or evening.
The company said it would continue to advise customers via its website and its Twitter page.
It is expected these delays will persist throughout the day.
Both Dublin Bus and Irish Rail said they had no warning ahead of the picketing, which Ní Fhátharta said began outside bus depots at 4am this morning.
The Bus Éireann strike enters its eighth day today, and today’s delays were mirrored by day one of the strike last Friday, when there were also delays to services for Irish Rail.
Read: ‘I can’t get to work’: Here’s how the Bus Éireann strikes have been affecting you
Read: Shane Ross says he ‘has no ministerial magic wand’ that will solve Bus Éireann crisis
