Good news for early commuters as Iarnród Éireann launches new service

GOOD NEWS for early morning commuters as Iarnród Éireann announces a new daily weekday service which will get you to and from Dublin Heuston faster.

The service begins next Monday, December 11 as part of a new timetable from Dublin Heuston to Cork, with a connection at Limerick.

The early service, operating Monday to Friday, will arrive in Kent Station, Cork, at 08:32am, giving a pre-09:00am Intercity arrival from Dublin for the first time.  

The service will also have a connection from Limerick Junction to Limerick, delivering a pre-eight-hours arrival time to Limerick city at 07:58am.

Journey time improvements on many Dublin Heuston to Cork and Limerick services, arising from recent infrastructure works, also include an express morning non-stop 2 hours 14 minutes service at 06:15am between Cork and Dublin.  

Additional 06:00am, Dublin Heuston to Cork service (Monday to Friday) arriving at 08:32am, giving a pre-09:00am arrival to Cork city for the first time, and with a connection from Limerick Junction to Limerick for a pre-08:00am arrival to Limerick city.

Journey time improvements on many Dublin Heuston to Cork and Limerick services, arising from recent infrastructure works, including an express morning non-stop 2 hours 14 minutes service between Cork and Dublin.

Extra morning peak service each way between Cork and Mallow each day (Monday to Saturday), operating at 07:20am Cork to Mallow, and 07:50am Mallow to Cork.

There will also be additional stops on a number of Heuston/Cork services at Portlaoise, to connect with new Heuston/Portlaoise commuter services.

This represents the fastest ever scheduled service on the route.

The new timetable has been approved by the National Transport Authority, and follows public consultation in September, in which over 1,650 customers participated.

Customers on all routes – including Intercity, DART and commuter – are advised to check times before travel, as there may be minor time changes affecting your service.  

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said; “We are delighted to be in a position to begin an early 06:00am weekday service from Dublin Heuston to Cork, and to introduce a Limerick connection from this service also.  We believe this will be a very popular service, with the arrival in Cork well before 09:00am, and in Limerick before 08:00am, particularly attractive to business customers.

“We look forward to bringing these improvements to our services from December 10, which follow previous expansion of services in December 2022. Iarnród Éireann with the National Transport Authority will continue to identify opportunities for further service improvements in the context of post-COVID travel patterns, as demand approaches, and on some routes exceeds, pre-pandemic levels.  The purpose of investment in our network, fleet and services is to bring better service to customers and allow more people to make a sustainable travel choice.” 

Full timetables are available at HERE and the Iarnród Éireann app.