Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail Reviews 

The 5:52 Galway-Limerick train has become a laughing stock and a great example of the state of this country. It has been late by +15 minutes every working day for the last 4 weeks. It leaves on time but stops about 200m down the track to let the Dublin train late, which is always late due to “operation” issues…. This delay causes us a delay and causing the train going in reverse direction from limerick-galway delayed aswell as it waits for our train at Ennis Train station. 2026 and one late train can delay the whole system. Its truly unacceptable and flawed no wonder the country is so far behind its EU goals and the accountability is non-existent.

Use the toilet in an Irish rail train that has left the station over 5 minutes ago at your peril. If you must, bring a snorkel, a bottle of perfume, a pair of disposable loves and and a full body wet suit. Consider using the wetsuit from your own seat (if you have one) instead of entering the wc in the first place.

Been on train from Cork to Dublin twice in the last 15 days , 4 journeys

The toilets are just disgusting
Smells horrible, of urine
No venting, no air freshener
Drain in the floor for overflow

As an Irish person I was embarrassed at the poor standard of the toilet facilities on our trains

I see where a lady who missed her train due to delayed flight was thanking an Irish Rail employee for letting her on to the next train. I hope she didn't have to pay for another ticket due to her missing the first train! I am glad her experience was much better than mine.

I commute a few days a week by train and because my frequency of travel does not justify buying a taxsaver ticket I buy "flexible" return tickets. If I have to get a later train due to work demands I can normally rebook if I know an hour before travel time. I thought rebooking was just a way of ensuring a train seat on account of the ticket being "flexible".

I was not able to rebook a few days ago because of a meeting that went on longer than expected and I did not have my phone. I got to the gates tired after a very stressful day at work and the man at the gates officiously looked at my e-ticket and declared I couldn't board.

I explained that my ticket was "flexible" but the man said I would have had to change my booking an hour earlier for it to qualify. So much for "flexible"! He clearly enjoyed his little bit of power and being able to bully a tired woman. He was backed up by a female station employee who reminded me of kids who join in with schoolyard bullies to prevent getting bullied themselves.

After paying for an overpriced ticket at the ticket machine I was eventually allowed to travel home despite having paid to travel already! I don't live in the Leap zone so it was quite expensive.

Like many people in Ireland I have a commute of more than 3 hours door to door. Those of us with long commutes do so mainly to avail of an affordable place to live. We sacrifice our free time, good health and social lives not to mention the cost of commuting. Irish Rail take full financial advantage of commuting workers, especially those who do not live in the Leap zone.

Outside of Leap zones train are infrequent and get more crowded due to more people moving to an affordable commuter zone. Some stations outside the Leap zone have had regular commuters for a decade or more but trains have not got more frequent in the intervening period. Non-Leap zone passenger really get a raw deal from Irish Rail.

Irish Rail charge passengers to park adding to the cost of commuting. Many people have gone back to commuting by car despite congestion due to the expense of travelling by Irish Rail, even after the fuel crisis!

The only excuse I can see that Irish Rail might have for double-charging people who miss their paid for trains and need to take another is that trains don't get overcrowded. This does not make sense because Irish Rail trains are regularly jammed with people sitting on the ground in between the aisles. These people have to move when others want to get on or get off at stops during the journey. So they're not double charging people who miss their trains for the good of passengers' health!

I eventually got to my home station, went to my car I had paid to park in the station car park and decided it may be better to commute by car in future.

Constantly delayed services outside of Dublin. It would encourage people to drive rather than take a train. Not sure this would be considered acceptable in Dublin.
Slightly better than our national bus service but not by much. Crazy prices unless you buy online more than an hour before your train.

Horrible.
I 've paid 34 euro for a 2:30h trip from Dublin to Cork. With the price of the ticket and the amount of taxes we pay in this country the state of these trains is simply unnaceptable. The smell from the toilets...I couldn't even use the toilet because it was disgusting . The carpet and the seats are full of dirt..like they haven't been desinfected and cleaned in ages. Also I was told they have a food trolley service...never saw it during the trip. It is frustrating that they don't do anything about these filthy trains it is unhealthy.

On Monday 25th May 2026, an elderly lady fell outside Connolly station and her arm came out of its socket. She still managed to get on the 16.00 train from Connolly to Sligo. She was in terrible pain. A Irish rail employee noticed her and went above and beyond to help her until she disembarked at Mullingar station as there was medical help waiting for her. Thank you so much Irish rail employee Carl/Karl Allen.

Dreadful. Best avoided.

Journey from Cork to Cobh today (Sunday 24 May, 15:00 booked, 16:00 actually used) absolutely unbearable.

Only one train an hour! Trains not long enough, inadequate luggage space. Dangerously over-crowded train at 15:00, could not get on it was so full (with people standing cheek by jowel).

Got on 16:00 train, just got a seat. No room for my luggage. Again people standing everywhere. Train was boiling hot so I have got far too hot and feel unwell.

Irish Trains, you should be ashamed. I didn't think I could find somewhere with a worse service than England !

Late.. cancelled... Wrong service.. I hate it. I hope all engineers will be fired. Unacceptable service . Attila

Missed my train due to late flight was really worried about seat on the next busy train on the way to train I met pat no words can express my thanks to him I.a older lady he treated me like his own mother a credit to irish rail
On arrival in charaville he handed me o er to mat who helped me with case to.car
The staff in charaville go up and beyond to help
A greatful traveller Margaret morley

I travel from cork to Newbridge regularly, on the way home from Newbridge today there was a 4 hour delay, we got told there would be a train and there wasn’t one. We got to mallow and passengers from another train told us we had to get off, we were told that our train was going to cork. When I tried to ask the security guard on duty he impatiently answered and said “that train” I tried explaining that we were told to stay on the train we were on and that a lot of older people had been waiting as well as I, he interrupted me and told me to “get on that train”. I understood the staff at portloaise etc couldn’t do anything about the train in Sallins and there wasn’t an unfortunate delay, but to ask a security guard for help and not get a an answer let alone a satisfactory answer/guide is simply shocking. I understood it was busy and a lot of people were asking the same questions and they were under pressure but we had been waiting 5 hours already for a train and then to be yelled at and moved off again was disheartening especially because I get the train regularly. I was speaking to a lot of other passengers and they felt the same.

On the whole, usually excellent value for money, but not this trip.
Couple of issues though:
When booking online, impossible to understand travel direction to book a forward facing seat.
Next is the noise from people playing music loud on their phones. It needs to stop.
A firm line on people sitting in pre booked seats should be taken. More announcements, questioning of people in pre booked seats and a zero tolerance for that behaviour.
The inspector needs to be seen and to act with authority and forcefully.
Would be great to have a dining car on the train.
Finally I'm on the Westport train.
Still in County kildare after 2 hours, left at 1.40pm, now 3.
40pm as there was a broken train ahead. Unacceptable. Time for twin tracks and more sidings.
Just arrived at Claremorris, and disembarked having been 8nformed over an hour ago that there would be bus transfers to Castlebar. Crowds of people, light rain , no sign of a bus. Unacceptable. Its 18.14 now, on a 16.43 scheduled arrival time.

Ronan who works in Galway train station was really amazing and and could never thank him enough I got 7.25 train 4th of may 2026 lots of love nicola irish rail should really appreciate good staff

Would give it negative stars if I could.. ticket machines not reading tickets..missed a train because of it.. staff on phones.. hide from the public when u try ask a question.. sham service as usual

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 carages 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.