No Money To Restore Tea Trolley To All Irish Rail Services
Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority (NTA) say there is no money available to provide catering on all intercity Irish Rail services.
Concerns have been raised at the Oireachtas Transport Authority, which heard from representatives of the NTA.
Senators from Mayo and Sligo, in particular, raised issues concerning constituents being unable to access water while services take more than three hours to complete, from one end of the line to the other.
The so-called 'tea trolley' was taken out of service due to Covid-19 restrictions five years ago, and has since been reintroduced on the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Belfast lines.
Last year, Irish Rail announced that it would be reintroduced by the end of 2024; however, this didn't happen.
Mayo Fine Gael Senator Mark Duffy questioned "if it's loss-making on the Cork to Dublin line, for example, at the moment.
"I don't see why Mayo commuters are second class, or indeed Sligo [commuters]."
While Sligo Labour Party Senator Nessa Cosgrove spoke of cancer patients from the north-west travelling to Dublin for treatment early in the morning, and unable to get water on board.
Irish Rail say its "funding does not at this time cover the full restoration of catering services on board."
While it continued to say it will "engage with the NTA on funding issues and to explore options to restore catering on other routes."
