Hourly train services connecting Carlow and Kilkenny to both Dublin and Waterford are essential elements for our region’s future rail services says one local councillor.
Kilkenny County Council is to write to the Department of Transport, requesting the addition of an early morning train service to Waterford which would enable commuters to reach the city for the beginning of the work and college day.
Cllr Seán Ó hArgáin said that this proposal formed part of a wider campaign to improve rail connectivity to and from the South East, telling KCLR News; “If you’re travelling from Waterford or Kilkenny to Dublin to try and be there for 9 o’clock in the morning you can do that but you can’t do it in reverse, you can’t travel from Carlow or from Bagenalstown or Kilkenny or Thomastown to Waterford for a train that arrives before 10 o’clock in the morning and that cuts out anybody commuting who’s either working or starting on a college course that starts at 9 o’clock in the morning, we really need an early morning train service that gets you into Waterford at half eight”.
He adds; “We all know the stories and we’ve all experienced them of having to stand because the trains are so overcrowded at particular times of the day and we need that to be addressed so what I’m looking for is an hourly service that allows you to get to work in any of the towns and cities along the line and also allows you then a little bit of leeway in the evenings and in fairness to Iarnróid Éireann that has happened, there are late night departures now at a quarter past eight from Dublin which get you into Waterford after 10 o’clock”.
Meanwhile, KCLR News understands an update’s due on the carparking situation at Carlow town train station – clarification has been sought from Irish Rail so stay tuned for more.
