Everything changes, even on the railway

This week’s Mediahuis Irish

regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

‘It’s a different railway now’, that’s what the Irish Rail staff member said to me on Monday on platform five at Heuston Station as I was about to board the 1pm Cork-bound train.

I know the man to see and know him a long time.

Back in the early 1990s he worked in the dining car on the Dublin Heuston Tralee train. When my father and I travelled on that train we would treat ourselves to the full Irish breakfast, which was

served to our table by the man I met on the platform. 

I have always had a childlike interest in the railway but there was something special about travelling with my elderly father to Kerry on that morning train to Tralee. Somewhere close to Portlaoise we would get up from our seats and head for the dining car. 

My man at the platform would invariably be on that train. I can still see him delivering the trays to our table and the freshly brewed coffee that arrived in a glass plunger. The fried egg, rasher, sausage black pudding and toast might not have been the healthiest but it was extra delicious as we sped southwest. 

On Monday my mind wandered back to those days on the railway. Imagine, it’s over 30 years since we first met. He’s spot on, it is a different railway. Better and faster trains, more frequent service but guess what, the dining car is gone. Some years ago Irish Rail outsourced the catering on its trains. It was never the same again and when Covid hit, the dining car service ended. All that’s on offer now is a trolley service, which does not accept cash.

It is worth noting that in 2004, before the outsourcing was introduced, Irish Rail lost €1.3 million in its onboard catering services. 

But the rolling stock has improved beyond my wildest dreams. Twenty five years ago most of our trains were well beyond their sell-by-date. With the exception of the Dublin Cork and Belfast services the few trains there were, were freezing in winter, too warm in summer, the windows shaking, rain running down inside the window. Many of the locomotives were on their last legs, which meant breakdowns were a regular feature.

Back then between Tralee and Dublin there were four trains every weekday, today that number has jumped to eight. And it’s the same story right across the country with one or two exceptions. There is an hourly service between Dublin and Cork, with the first train leaving Heuston at 6am.

The stations too have been revamped with new lifts being installed in many rural locations. There are far too many problems with lifts. I’ve never understood why Irish Rail has not built underpasses at their stations.

Yes, it’s a different railway. How the world is changing, not just the railway but in every way possible, right in front of our eyes. 

Am I looking back on that breakfast with rose tinted glasses? I’ll never know, but the railway sure has changed. 

The ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus saw the world in constant flux, everything flows. Oops, I was about to say, nothing changes.