Catering trolley on selected trains as part of six-month pilot
Pilot will be on Iarnród Éireann Dublin Heuston to Galway route
Iarnród Éireann will introduce a pilot catering trolley service on selected trains on the Dublin Heuston to Galway route from Monday, 24 August, operated by Irish company Sambos.ie.
Some trolley services will be provided on services over the coming days in advance of the pilot commencing, for staff familiarisation purposes.
The pilot will be for a six-month period, on a commercial basis without Public Service Obligation (PSO) funding to help determine the potential viability of such a service on the Intercity network.
Catering services have been provided solely on the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Belfast routes since May 2023, within the PSO funding envelope currently available under Iarnród Éireann’s contract with the National Transport Authority.
Iarnród Éireann have undertaken market engagement to identify innovative solutions which may enable on-board catering to be provided more extensively on the Intercity network, on a commercial basis, in response to customer demand.
The pilot trolley service will initially be provided on three services each way daily on the Dublin / Galway route at:
Monday to Saturday
07.35 Heuston/Galway* 11.05 Galway/Heuston
09.25 Heuston/Galway 13.05 Galway/Heuston
11.30 Heuston/Galway 15.05 Galway/Heuston
Sunday
08.00 Heuston/Galway 11.00 Galway/Heuston
10.30 Heuston/Galway 13.40 Galway/Heuston
11.40 Heuston/Galway 15.00 Galway/Heuston
(*Fridays only – change at Athlone)
A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said there is potential to extend to more services and other routes during the course of the pilot.
“We know how much our customers value an on-board catering service, and with record demand for our train services, we appreciate that it has been frustrating that it has been limited to Dublin to Cork (also benefiting most Limerick and Kerry customers) and Dublin to Belfast routes over recent years.
“We will undertake this pilot with Sambos.ie to help determine the potential for more extensive catering operation on a commercial basis, which will be decided on completion of the pilot, in consultation with the NTA.”