Irish Rail announces new timetable effective from 10th December 2023

Irish Rail, in partnership with the National Transport Authority, has unveiled a new train timetable set to commence on 10th December, 2023. This announcement follows a public consultation held in September 2023 and aims to enhance travel efficiency and convenience for passengers across Ireland.

New Services

  • A new early morning service from Dublin Heuston to Cork at 06:00hrs (Monday to Friday), arriving in Cork by 08:32hrs. This service includes a connection at Limerick Junction for an early arrival in Limerick before 08:00hrs.

  • Additional services between Dublin Heuston and Carlow at 12:20hrs, and Carlow to Dublin Heuston at 15:15hrs (Monday to Friday).

  • Expanded services between Westport and Athlone at 16:20hrs, and Athlone to Westport at 21:08hrs (Monday to Saturday), with convenient connections to/from Dublin Heuston at Athlone.

  • Enhanced Sunday services between Heuston and Portlaoise, including 8 additional services from Portlaoise to Heuston, and 7 from Heuston to Portlaoise.

  • New morning peak services between Cork and Mallow, and additional services between Dublin Connolly and Drogheda during weekdays.

Additional Stops on Existing Services:

  • Increased stops at Portlaoise on Sundays for Heuston to Cork and vice versa services, facilitating connections to the expanded Portlaoise Commuter service.

  • Additional stops at Clara for the 19:35hrs Dublin Heuston to Galway service (Monday to Saturday) and the 18:45hrs service on Sundays.

  • The 06:25hrs service from Galway to Dublin Heuston (Monday to Saturday) will now stop at Ballinasloe.

According to Irish Rail, 1,652 customers participated in the public consultaion process for these timetable changes, with 54% of submissions relating to Intercity train services, and 12% of submissions relating to DART services.

Irish Rail has also stated that it plans to prioritise improvements on both Dublin/Belfast and Dublin/Galway routes during 2024, by which time the company expects more driver and fleet resources to be available.

For more information on the new Irish Rail timetable, please visit the Irish rail website.


DARTMatt Walsh