Irish Rail Insists No Threat To Future Of Tullamore Railway Station

17th September 2015

Thursday, 17 September 2015

Courtesy Tullamore Tribune

IRISH Rail say there 'is no threat to Tullamore Railway Station' and insist there has been 'no change to general staffing levels.'

In his presentation to members of Offaly County Council last Monday, which was held in committee, Mr Eddie Fitzpatrick, the Regional Manager with Irish Rail, said the station is staffed from 5.15am to 9. 30pm Monday to Saturday and from 8.30am to10.30pm on Sundays.

He also maintained that the punctuality of trains stands at 94 per cent.

This is in stark contrast to reports of the station being left unstaffed, late trains, no information available, out-of-order ticket machines, locked toilets, a lift that appears to be constantly out-of-order and people forced to stand the whole way to Dublin or Galway because there are no vacant seats.

Councillors Declan Harvey and Tommy McKeigue said sparks flew as members left Mr Fitzpatrick in no doubt as to how they felt about what is happening at Tullamore station.

Cllr Harvey said he was very disappointed with the response from Mr Fitzpatrick . 'He had no answers whatsoever. All he said was they would try to make things better.

He said there were 8 days in August when the station was unmanned. He didn't give any definite indications we got through to him, and he said he had received no complaints. said Cllr Harvey.

Meanwhile the Fianna Fail Councillor said a train broke down on Monday the 14th. 'One was stuck in Clara and one in Tullamore. They looked for buses to transfer people, this was at 3pm . .. where did they think they were going to get buses at that time when all the schools were coming out?

Another thing is I can't understand how the Stationmaster in Athlone is running Tullamore station. They are downgrading Tullamore station and it's not right for a capital town.' Finally Cllr Harvey said: 'I'm delighted that the other councillors have taken this on board.

I brought it to the attention of Offaly County Council, Tullamore Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal District over a year and half ago,' he concluded.

Meanwhile Cllr Tommy McKeigue is more positive about how the meeting went.

'Without giving any commitments I think they have taken on board what we said. He (Eddie FItzpatrick) was very coy, but I think we have made good headway seen as there was such a furore over it.

We outlined our position. They said there are 7 people working there and they have enough to cover all the hours. Clara is part of the Tullamore section and if Clara is down a person, someone from Tullamore has to go out there.'

Cllr McKeigue said he asked Mr Fitzpatrick if Irish Rail would consider cheaper rates for students. 'When those people grow up and if they get used to commuting they will use it for the rest of their lives. It affects Offaly more than anywhere because we have no universities here.

The Fine Gael councillor said they gave a commitment that the station would be cleaned up and left in pristine condition. It got bad publicity in the Irish Business Against Litter report,' he said.

On All Ireland Final Sunday the 6th of September, Cllr Tommy McKeigue said there was no staff at the station when he was there. He said people had been told they couldn't book for the 9.30am train as it would be packed, yet when it arrived there were vacant seats available and people got on without tickets.

Many more waited for the next train from Westport but it broke down, leaving the crowds with no alternative but to take the next train from Galway which was already packed to capacity.

Last Sunday evening the 13th of September there were around 50 people waiting at Tullamore station for the Dublin to Galway train. However it was overcrowded and commuters had to wait for the next train at 9.20pm.

Tullamore station is served by the Galway/Dublin, Westport/Dublin and Athlone/Dublin services. During the week there are 14 trains from Tullamore to Dublin and 12 trains from Dublin to Tullamore.

800 passengers use Tullamore station daily. Mr Fitzpatrick said assistance can be arranged through ringing-1850 366222, 01703 3299 or logging onto access@irishrail.ie