Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail Reviews 

343
TrustScore 2 out of 5

2.2

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Evaluating 50 reviews, most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Customers frequently encountered significant service issues, such as frequent delays, overcrowded trains, and a general lack of reliability. The booking process caused frustration, with reserved seats often taken or non-existent, and online booking sometimes problematic. Train facilities were also criticized for being unhygienic, featuring dirty toilets, unpleasant smells, and overall uncleanliness. However, some customers praised staff for being helpful, kind, and going above and beyond to assist passengers. Conversely, other reviewers reported negative encounters, citing staff as unhelpful, rude, or difficult to locate.

What people talk about most

Service

Clients share negative opinions on service, with many reviewers describing it as very poor and a reflection... See more

Staff

Customers had ambiguous experiences with staff, with many praising their helpfulness and kindness, especially... See more

Location

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about location, with some highlighting specific stations like Heuston,... See more

Booking process

People report negative experiences with the booking process, often encountering issues with double-booked... See more

Facilities

Reviewers highlight negative aspects of facilities, with many expressing disgust over the cleanliness of... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Reserved 7 seats in the train from Dublin to Kilkenny and back. Outward journey was great even with rain and storm outside. Inward journey was made a hell of an experience by 4 people having thei... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

The smell of urine from the carrage was unacceptable. The toilets were in a disgusting state. And you could see on the mat outside that they were leaking. These carrages are not cleaned properly, as t... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Apart from the major delays, the tickets are still really expensive, considering the travels from Portlaoise to Dublin. It's much cheaper to go by car if you have one. No wonder there is so much traff... See more

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Travelled the Cork dublin return last weekend train was packed. Had seats booked luckily. Train was ontime girl checking tickets very helpful and pleasant. Only thing was train stopped way outside st... See more


Company details

  1. Train Ticket Agency
  2. Transportation Service

Information provided by various external sources

Iarnród Éireann, also known as Irish Rail in English, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland.


Contact info

2.2

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

343 reviews

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No history of asking for reviews

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2.2

All reviews

(343)

84 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Communication is non existent

Communication is non existent. I have been chasing a refund which I was told I was getting since 10th October (today is 26th November). Just get a generic email back and nothing further. Very bad customer service.

November 26, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The worst service and customer treatment

Irish rail needs to fix their customer service. I was treated like sh*t by the guys at Galway rail station, and had to pay more than 16€ extra to get home with the last train. It's my responsibility to keep my phone on, but it decided to die that evening. I tried to say I have my name displayed over the seat and an ID card, didn't help much. They forced me to buy a new and expensive ticket, and I had to force them to help me, as they weren't interested at all (as a tourist this ticket machine was new to me). This was one minute before departure. The way these guys behaved was terrible, seemed like they made an attempt for me to miss the train. Customer service still doesn't want to refund this ticket..

November 20, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Irish Rail is a complete disgrace

Irish Rail is a complete disgrace. I have writing complaints and demanding my money back, which have been completely ignored. Constantly late, they feel like they have the right to keep passengers with no information while forcing to endure severe constant delays, in the cold with no clue when the train is arriving. This evening I have been waiting for over 30 minutes in the cold with no information what is happening and no updates. They have no respect. They literally think nothing of passengers.

November 19, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The 23:25 left at 23:23 exactly, faking plan ruiner

The 23:25 left at 23:23 exactly
Never have ibever seen a train leaving earlier than the sated departure in the past but this seems to be a common trend now.
Everyone presume the time is 2 minutes earlier than it says!!!!!! Fck sake irish rail I had plans and you ruined them, thanks

November 16, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I have been using this service every…

I have been using this service every day for the past few months. I would say the trains are delayed 80% of the time on the line I take. Of course, customer service are awful at responding to complaints. You'll just get some generic response that doesn't address any of your issues if you complaints about the service or request a partial refund. It's baffling how they can provide a service this consistently terrible.

November 14, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Appreciate your assistance

Got the Sligo to Dublin train this morning from Longford. Accidentally dropped my car keys beneath the train while getting on board. Staff were incredibly helpful and informed the driver, who wasn’t long jumping down on the tracks beneath the train and receiving them for me. I’ve been using Irish Rail for my commute to and from Dublin everyday for college and I appreciate the service. Thank you.

November 14, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Trains constantly cancelled or late

Trains constantly cancelled or late, this has happened to me personally around 23 times. No communication between staff and train go-ers. Also no compensation given for wasting hours if people time in the regular, a joke.

November 5, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I would only use if you desperately…

I would only use if you desperately want to waste money! Terrible service, that is I they ever actually show up on time. The trains have a constant stink on them!
The staff won't even look at you when you have a question.

Overall, extremely disappointing every time!

November 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Irish Rail are an absolute disgrace

Irish Rail are the epitome of incompetence. Nothing runs on time, the board will say that your train is on time but it never arrives as displayed. And 5-30 odd minutes after your train should have arrived some moronic oaf will make a muffled announcement. When your alusive train finally arrives it is always beyond filthy and overcrowded. On the off-chance you manage to catch an employee in-between scratching their rearends and smoking they are unabashedly useless, they posses not a modicum of knowledge or professionalism.

It's a sad state of affairs when so many individuals are calling upon the privatisation of our rail service but it really seems to be the only viable solution. IrishRails lack of accountability and blantant lassie-faire jobs for the boys staffing tendencies has reduced the service down to the steaming pile it now is.

October 31, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Delays to and from town every single…

Delays to and from town every single poxy day. I'm so fed up of this crap unreliable service. What a joke. I'm always late for work, even if I leave extra early. Train failures and operational issues are the norm

October 23, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Yet again late, awful service.

I have been travelling by train for the past 25 years and this year has been the worst so far. I use the early train from Portlaoise to Dublin Heuston and this year Irish Rail changed the departure time from 5.40am to 5.33am and arrival time from 6.35 to 6.42am. This on the face of it adds 15/20 mins to journey times but in reality it is never on time as it regularly is arriving at 6.50am meaning that journey times have increased by 25/30 mins. I pay on average €3000 per year for the service but Irish Rail don't care about the customer. We are just insignificant to them. For Gov service it is a disgrace

October 10, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Very comfortable journey from Kildare…

Very comfortable journey from Kildare town to Westport. We changed at Athlone. My husband realised after 15minutes that he left a bag on the Galway train. We mentioned it to the inspector on our train. He made contact immediately and the bag was located. My husband got a call shortly after the to arrange pick up. Very helpful and efficient staff both in the Athlone to Westport train and also Galway train. Only disappointment is no tea/coffee available on either train

October 7, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Train late 9 times out of ten

Train late 9 times out of ten, has a knock on effect on everything from appointments to organising pick ups, can't be that hard to make a timetable and stick to it. This has been the case for the last two years and probably much longer. Pathetic really

October 4, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Decidied to go to Galway via the train

Decided to go to Galway via the train. It's 4 o'clock in dublin and traffic is bad. Went to book online for 16euro but wasnt able to. So headed to Houston to buy a ticket and ended up paying 30 euro. Jumped on the train and I'm not allowed to sit anywhere. Why do I pay double to stand..joke. could easy put more carriages on or say train is booked up get the next one

October 2, 2024
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Have used the Northern Commuter line…

Have used the Northern Commuter line for nearly 20 years and the service has gradually gotten worse. Firstly trains in the afternoon and weekend started terminating at Connolly instead of Pearse and then they implement the dreaded new timetable in August. If they had actually tried to make a mess of it they couldnt have done a better job. Quite impressive really

September 30, 2024
Unprompted review

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