28/5/2019 All Services to/from Heuston suspended

[Mark Gleeson]

Major CTC signalling fault at approx. 0530 this morning has shutdown all rail services to/from Heuston. It wasn't until 0609 that Irish Rail communicated this.

This impacts all services on 'mainline' CTC which covers

Heuston - Limerick Junc - Limerick
Heuston - Cabra (Phoenix Park tunnel route)
Portarlington - Athlone (including beyond Athlone station)
Kildare - Athy

This is not a signal fault, its a control fault

There are back up control rooms (Heuston P10, Athlone, Thurles, Limerick Junc, Limerick) but as always with Irish Rail contingencies are not planned for. We do know the 0520 Athlone Heuston is stranded outside Clara for 90 minutes


Pursuant to EC1371 art 16, passengers impacted this morning are entitled to one of the following at no cost
1. Full refund
2. Rerouting, i.e. ticket limited to a specific train can now be used on any train
3. You are entitled to make the journey on a different date

Needless to say staff on the ground have no clue about these rights