A NEW IARNRÓD ÉIREANN timetable will commence from Sunday, including the “fastest ever scheduled service” between Cork and Dublin.

The non-stop 06.15am Cork to Dublin Heuston weekday service will now clock in at 2 hours 14 minutes – five minutes quicker than previously and the fastest scheduled service to operate the route. 

Iarnród Éireann said the journey time improvements are the result of recent track and infrastructure works on the line.

The new timetable has been approved by the National Transport Authority and follows public consultation in September that over 1,650 customers participated.

Additional Intercity train services to and from Cork, Carlow and Westport, and additional trains in the Commuter belt between Dublin and Portlaoise, Dublin and Drogheda and Cork and Mallow are some of the other highlights of the new timetable.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said that the rail service, along with the National Transport Authority, will “continue to identify opportunities for further service improvements”.

The spokesperson said this will be done in the “context of post-COVID travel patterns, as demand approaches, and on some routes exceeds, pre-pandemic levels”. 

They added: “The purpose of investment in our network, fleet and services is to bring a better service to customers and allow more people to make a sustainable travel choice.”

Customers on all routes – including Intercity, DART and Commuter – have been advised to check times before travel, as there may be minor time changes affecting your service when the new timetable commences.

Some of the new timetable highlights are listed below:

New services

• Additional weekday 06:00 Dublin Heuston to Cork service arriving at 08:32, with a connection from Limerick Junction to Limerick for a pre-08:00 arrival to Limerick city.
• Additional weekday 12:20 Dublin Heuston to Carlow and 15:15 Carlow to Dublin Heuston service daily
• Additional weekday 16:20 Westport to Athlone and 21:08 Athlone to Westport service daily, providing connections to/from Dublin Heuston at Athlone, and a new later final service to Westport.
• Connection from/to Ballina to the new 21:08hrs Athlone to Westport above.
• Expansion to Heuston to Portlaoise Commuter Sunday services, with eight additional Commuter services from Portlaoise to Heuston, and seven from Heuston to Portlaoise, extending existing Heuston/Kildare services; there will also be additional stops on a number of Heuston/Cork services at Portlaoise, to connect with these Commuter services
• Extra morning peak service each way between Cork and Mallow, operating at 07:20 Cork to Mallow, and 07:50 Mallow to Cork
• Additional weekday 12:20, 13:27 and 14:20 Dublin Connolly to Drogheda, and 11:40 and 12:40h Drogheda to Dublin Connolly services

Additional stops on existing services

• Four Heuston to Cork and five Cork to Heuston services on Sundays will additionally serve Portlaoise
• Monday-Saturday 19:35 Dublin Heuston to Galway and the Sunday 18:45 Heuston to Galway will additionally serve Clara, providing a later final service to Clara.
• Monday-Saturday 06:25 Galway to Dublin Heuston will additionally serve Ballinasloe