Iarnród Éireann

Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2025, IÉ carried a record peak of 55 million passengers.[3]

Until 2013, Ireland was the only European Union state that had not implemented EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having derogated from its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses, and allow open access by private companies to the rail network. A consultation on the restructuring of Iarnród Éireann took place in 2012. The derogation ended on 14 March 2013 when the company was split in 2 sectors: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager.[4][5]

Mary Considine was appointed Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann in October 2025.

Services

predecessor	CIÉ Railways Division (1945–1987)

net income	€4.2 million (2019)‡R1R‡

operating income	€529 million (2019)‡R1R‡

num employees	3,897 (2019)

key people	Mary Considine (Chief Executive) Ultan Courtney (Chairman)‡R2R‡

parent	Córas Iompair Éireann

subsid	InterCity Commuter DART Iarnród Éireann Freight

homepage	irishrail.ie

Passenger services

IÉ's passenger services are branded under three main names; InterCity, Commuter and DART.

InterCity

InterCity services are long-distance routes radiating mainly from Dublin. The Belfast – Dublin service, jointly operated with Northern Ireland Railways, is branded separately as Enterprise. Dublin's two main InterCity stations are Connolly and Heuston. Intercity services run to/from Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Ennis, Galway, Waterford, Rosslare Europort, Sligo, Westport, Wexford and Ballina. Dublin's third major station, Pearse, is the terminus for much of the suburban network in the Greater Dublin area. An additional two InterCity services runs from Limerick to Limerick Junction and from Limerick Junction to Waterford. This service formerly operated through to Rosslare Europort but services between Waterford and Rosslare Europort ceased after the last train on 18 September 2010. Bus Éireann now operates route 370 through the affected towns as replacement transport.[9]

A new service began on 29 March 2010 from Limerick to Galway, as part of the Western Rail Corridor, reopening the long-closed line.[10]

A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Iarnród Éireann was expected to seek permission in the near future from the National Transport Authority to close the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line and the Limerick–Waterford line.[11]

Commuter

The majority of Commuter services are based in Dublin, which has four commuter routes: Northern (to Drogheda MacBride), Western (Connolly Station or Docklands to Maynooth/M3 Parkway), South-Western (to Sallins and Naas Railway Station) and South-Eastern (to Kilcoole). See Dublin Suburban Rail for more details. The Cork Suburban Rail currently has three Commuter services: to Mallow and Cobh, and a third service to Midleton which became operational on a part of the disused Youghal branch line on 30 July 2009. Limerick Suburban Rail currently consists of two lines to Ennis and Nenagh, with shuttle services to Limerick Junction. A Commuter service operates between Galway to Oranmore and Athenry.

Commuter trains also operate on shuttle duty for branches from the main InterCity services from Mallow to Tralee (off the Dublin – Cork route) and from Manulla Junction to Ballina (off the Dublin – Westport route), as well as acting as InterCity trains for Dublin – Rosslare and some Dublin – Sligo services, and as the aforementioned Limerick – Limerick Junction – Waterford service.

DART

The north–south route along Dublin's eastern coastal side is also host to DART, Ireland's only electrified heavy-rail service. The DART consists of many types of trains, the oldest and most famous one being the 8100 Class which still operates, now extensively refurbished.

Services table

The following is a simplified table of Monday - Friday off-peak services. Various irregular calling patterns have been omitted for clarity.[12]

InterCity

A new service began on 29 March 2010 from Limerick to Galway, as part of the Western Rail Corridor, reopening the long-closed line.[10]

Commuter

DART

Services table

The following is a simplified table of Monday - Friday off-peak services. Various irregular calling patterns have been omitted for clarity.[12]

Freight services

Iarnród Éireann also has responsibility for running freight services on the Irish network through its Freight Division – which recorded a tonnage decrease of 19.2% in 2019,[1] and as of 2020, there are 3 freight flows running throughout the country. This operates both Railfreight trains and a network of road haulage through various distribution nodes throughout the country. Iarnród Éireann Freight is subdivided into three sections:

Bulk Freight – specialises in operating full trainloads of freight, usually bulk movements of single products such as cement, mineral ore or timber.
Intermodal – container trains, currently operated between Waterford Port and Ballina and Dublin Port and Ballina.
Navigator – the freight forwarding division, particularly associated with the transport of automotive stock parts.

Rolling stock

(excluding the Enterprise service):

InterCity services have a fleet of 265 carriages.

Commuter services have a fleet of 148 carriages.

DART services have a fleet of 134 carriages.

Dublin-Belfast Enterprise has a fleet of 28 carriages.

InterCity and Enterprise fleet

[21]

IÉ 201 Class Locomotive
IÉ 22000 Class DMU
Mark 4
De Dietrich Rolling stock

Locomotive fleet

Current

CIÉ 071 Class/NIR Class 110 locomotive
IÉ 201 Class/NIR Class 201 locomotive

Former

CIÉ 001 Class locomotive
CIÉ 201 Class locomotive
CIÉ 121 Class locomotive
CIÉ 141 Class locomotive
CIÉ 181 Class locomotive

Current

CIÉ 071 Class/NIR Class 110 locomotive
IÉ 201 Class/NIR Class 201 locomotive

Former

CIÉ 001 Class locomotive
CIÉ 201 Class locomotive
CIÉ 121 Class locomotive
CIÉ 141 Class locomotive
CIÉ 181 Class locomotive

Commuter fleet

Current

IÉ 2600 Class DMU
IÉ 2800 Class DMU
IÉ 29000 Class DMU
IÉ 22000 Class DMU

Former

[22]

IÉ 2700 Class DMU
IÉ 2750 Class DMU

Current

IÉ 2600 Class DMU
IÉ 2800 Class DMU
IÉ 29000 Class DMU
IÉ 22000 Class DMU

Former

[22]

IÉ 2700 Class DMU
IÉ 2750 Class DMU

DART fleet

Current

CIÉ 8100 Class EMU
IÉ 8500 Class EMU
IÉ 8510 Class EMU
IÉ 8520 Class EMU

Former

[23]

IÉ 8200 Class EMU

Current

CIÉ 8100 Class EMU
IÉ 8500 Class EMU
IÉ 8510 Class EMU
IÉ 8520 Class EMU

Former

[23]

IÉ 8200 Class EMU

Future fleet

IÉ's increasing fleet usage has led to requirements being made for the procurement of additional vehicles. DART services are running with all trains formed of 4–8 cars, while 54 sets of 63 fleet of ICRs are committed to services with 56 required on Friday. To this end, IÉ plans to purchase a significant number of new ICR vehicles – an initial purchase of 41 will be made for delivery in 2021, comprising three new trains, with the remainder planned as intermediate vehicles to lengthen existing units. The deal for the new vehicles is intended to include options for up to 40 further vehicles.[24] There are also plans for a total replacement of the existing DART fleet, which will be combined with extensions to the DART network. The framework for the DART fleet is planned for up to 600 vehicles formed into four-car and eight-car sets, split into both pure EMU and BEMU trains.[24] For immediate fleet capacity increases, IÉ planned refurbishment of its 2700 Class DMUs, which was subsequently cancelled. Instead, IÉ is discussing the possibility of sourcing surplus DMUs from the British network, with s and s available.[24]

type	Subsidiary of a state-owned enterprise
location city	Connolly Station, Dublin 1, D01 V6V6
location country	Ireland
industry	Rail transport
owner	CIÉ (100%)
revenue	€297.4 million (2019)‡R1R‡
foundation	February 2, 1987
area served

Organisation

Services

Passenger services

InterCity

Commuter

DART

Services table

InterCity

Commuter

DART

Services table

Freight services

Operational details

1916 station renaming

Network Catering

Rolling stock

InterCity and Enterprise fleet

Locomotive fleet

Current

Former

Current

Former

Commuter fleet

Current

Former

Current

Former

DART fleet

Current

Former

Current

Former

Future fleet

See also

External links

References