Donegal customers not getting a proper train service to Sligo

It is not only Bus Éireann that have been getting a rap from Donegal Municipal District Councillors at their monthly meetings over recent times. But not everyone is having the same experience, it would appear.

This time it was the turn of Irish Rail, and their Dublin to Sligo train service that fell foul of Cllr Michael McMahon (SF), which is about half an hours drive from Bundoran.

He told December’s meeting in Donegal Town that some of their services to the north west had much to be desired.

He said that he heard from both local constituents and travellers to Donegal that Irish Rail was “not providing a proper service from Dublin to Sligo”.

“It is very important that the service runs on time, and that the connections are made at Sligo to bring the people onto Donegal.

“And from a tourism point of view, I can’t understand why they can’t get it right and why they can regulate it so that the trains arrive on time.

“There are also complaints about the timescale involved and that the trains are only travelling at around 40 miles per hour and that it has been overcrowded on several occasions, with no seating room.

He said: “This sends a very bad signal to people that are coming to Donegal for vacation or people that are just using it for the day.

“It is also being used by Donegal students who are studying in Dublin and Maynooth, so I am calling on management to rectify this and we must meet up with them because we have been told by the Minister to leave our cars at home and use public transport.

“I am a supporter of public transport and I want public transport to run properly. I am amazed that in 2023 the national carrier can’t get the service properly organised and set up.

“I believe that management needs to have a serious look at this and a review of this to see what is actually happening.

Pointing out that the train was also breaking down on occasions, he added: “If they want people from Donegal and especially the south of the county to use their service and visitors who would find the attraction of travelling to Donegal via the train network to Sligo appealing, then this sends out a bad signal to them.”

However, Cllr Barry Sweeny (FG) said that while he was not there to dispute anything that Cllr McMahon had said or called for, he wanted to convey his own personal experience of using the same train service from Sligo to the capital in recent weeks..

His journey had been smooth and comfortable, there had been no delays and his experience of using the same service had been the opposite to what Cllr McMahon had said.