Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail Reviews 309

Irish Rail's approach to passenger information is nothing short of visionary — if your vision is "provide as little as humanly possible and see what happens."

Take the direction of travel when booking tickets. Knowing which way your seat faces would presumably require some sort of advanced computational infrastructure that Iarnród Éireann simply hasn't been able to get their hands on yet. Quantum computing, perhaps. Or a sticky note on someone's desk. Either way, it remains firmly beyond them.

Then there's the mystery of which carriage arrives at the platform first. If you're heading from Galway to Dublin and would like to, I don't know, exit the train without being caught in a human stampede through a corridor the width of a shopping trolley, you're out of luck. Irish Rail has decided this information is classified. May the best man win.

And if you're boarding at Athenry and would like to know which platform your train will be at — you absolute dreamer. The correct approach, apparently, is to guess, commit fully to one side, and then sprint up a flight of stairs dragging your luggage when you inevitably get it wrong. Character-building stuff, really.

Oh, and food? Gone. Trolley service: gone. A bottle of water on a two-hour journey: your problem. Pack a lunch like it's a school tour.

This is a national rail service in 2026. The bar is on the floor, and somehow, Irish Rail is still finding ways to trip over it. The car stays on the road for a reason.

firstly our train was delayed, when it FINALLY came the train had no coach markings confusing all paying customers as to where their seats were, if that wasn't enough to confuse people once on the train there was no names above the seats, leaving people without seats they paid for. shocking experience. sort yourselves out.

Dublin to Belfast Train is Joke over Sold Bigtime standing Room only people causing murder over seating in their Seats made to Q in lines like Cattle no customers services inspectors haven’t clue what Doing and that’s putting mild theirs no organisation what so ever it’s Shambles they way their running this services trains breaking Down toilets not working people going toilet in carafes and list goes on Standards have Dropped bigtime C.I.E and Translink carry on Regardless place needs looking into bigtime

I just wanted to take a moment to recognise Margret, a truly fantastic member of staff at Mallow Train Station.

I was unsure about purchasing my ticket and using the machine, but Margret was incredibly kind and patient in helping me through it. She took the time to explain everything clearly and made sure I was completely comfortable before I left.

From the moment I approached her, she was friendly, approachable, and genuinely eager to help. Nothing was too much trouble, and her calm, reassuring manner really stood out in what can often be a busy station.

Her kindness and professionalism made a real difference to my day, and I’m very grateful for her help. She is a real credit to Mallow Train Station and I hope she gets the recognition she truly deserves.

— Tracy Galvin

They look for any excuse to be delayed. They love when there's protests in town or work on train lines to be done, because they can sit back and take it easy but they also let delays happen on normal days out of sheer laziness. I wish a private company would come in and take their business away once and for all because Irish Rail aren't interested in being a real company or providing a proper service

I simply cannot believe the low score. The trains are clean, mostly on time, the staff are pleasant and helpful. The price is OK, for the service. The other travellers are courteous. You can prebook your seat, you can bring food on board, you can plug in your laptop, charge your phone, they are warm, the seat is roomy with armrests. It's a train not a limousine.

Exceptional customer service from Hilary@Bray Station for numerous information given to me as first time traveller in Ireland. Knowleadgeable, very professional and prompt. Congratulations, Hilary, you are an exceptional asset to Irish Rail!

It's like they are trying to be bad. Sitting at Tara Street waiting on another late train so might as well review. Last Saturday night from Malahide to Town.. Train pulls in, sits there for 20 mins past departure time whilst people freeze on the platform, no announcements, don't let people on the train out of the cold.
Just knuckle draggers running the show.
Even in Tara Street they're paying brain dead staff to sit in booths on their phones at nothing.
Privatise it and clean up shop.

Ridiculous service. Delays delays and delays. !! Hell expensive. Looters

I have just had the most horrible experience on the train from Thurles to Dublin , was traveling with my son who I’m a carer for with my husband and 2 kids had 4 tickets and mine was free travel he asked for proof of my travel pass and realized I had left it at home while I completely understand I had no proof I told him I was a carer for one of my children who was with me and I had purchased 4 tickets he was so rude I have never met anyone like him and in front of a child who was already anxious . I asked could I email a copy of my travel pass he was having none of it so anyone traveling with kids with needs make sure and bring your pps card as you will have to pay for a ticket you shouldn’t have to pay for and no le way at all so so rude .

Regular customer on the Sligo líne i work in Dublin City Centre so normally get the train from Broombridge each day. Today was on the Luas as normal as I approached Broombridge at 15.09 I noticed the Sligo train on the line it was early at least 8 people ran to get the train the driver clearly saw passengers he smiled and continued to pull away ,what a nasty price of work.........

Getting tired of being harassed in the morning by your staff "were you going" if I wanted help I'd ask. Than they look at me with two heads just because I ignored them.

Trains are pretty dirty.

The train was absolutely filthy! The toilets so smelly. There was also a very noisy engine sound as if it was about to breakdown. Very poor Iarnrod eireann. 🥲

Like most my experience is negative, in fact very negative. Dublin to Cork twice recently and it gets worse each time. Toilets overflowing with contents on the floor and spilling out onto passage ways. Filthy everywhere, torn seat covers, people drinking alcohol eventhough its not allowed. Punctuality is good, staff ambivalent. Im not a fan of privatisation but this company should be sold for €1 as thats the value of it. Its 2026 and they are stuck in the 1950s.

1,5 hour travel time from malahide to howth,with over 50 minutes waiting time/delay at howth junction is a joke.Train station without toilets is a third world thing.Seats ripped, train overcrowded.Real world updates incorrect.Shocking experience,we were travelling for leisure I can imagine how it is if you have to travel for work.Worst railway in Europe

I caught the train this morning from Mallow to Dublin Heuston. Whilst waiting for my bus i realised my car keys had vanished, instant panic 🙈🙈 I sent an email and got a rapid response from the lovely Orla. Shortly after i got through to Customer Service at Heuston and they had found my keys👏👏👏 absolutely fantastic service and saved me a great deal of trouble. Well done to Irish Rail👏👏👏

I travelled by train recently from Dublin to Cork. At Portarlington, due to technical problems, the train had to be withdrawn from service and passengers had to retrain. The staff handled this disruption kindly, with sensitivity and care for passengers. Due to their smooth handling of the situation passengers whil discommoded, we’re accepting of the situation and I heard very little grumbling or complaining. Within an hour we were on our way on the next scheduled train. Due to the disruption there were few spare seats on the next train. I wrote to Irish Rail, received a response within 24 hours which included an apology and refund. This is what I call 5 star customer service.

Train is filthy, toilets filthy, regularly late, just a poor service in today’s environment.

Should be 0 stars!
They changed my seats without my permission or knowledge. I received and email that my booking was modified but I didn't modify it. I rang their customer service straight away because my daughter suffers from travel sickness and I specifically chosen seats that are the best for her. Customer service not helpful at all. I was informed that they don't know why and how it happened and told me that my initial seats aren't available so they can't give them back to me. Joke! I submitted complaint but again I was informed that it is very unlikely that I will be sitting on seats that I reserved. This is just awful! They don't care about any rules and definitely they don't care about people!

I travelled from Dublin to Cork this evening with three children. They had bought pot noodles in the shop before boarding the train. When they asked for hot water from the dining cart they were told by a staff member by the name of "Isabelle" that they need to pay €3.40 per cup of hot water, which then changed to 3.80. When I went and asked why there was a charge for hot water she told me that she needed to charge for the "tea" because it was against "company policy". Absolutely scandalous!!