Commuter routes to and from County Kildare and Portlaoise are to be subject to a new timetable from this Sunday, December 11.
So says Irish Rail who say the new timetable has been approved by the National Transport Authority, and follows public consultation in September and October, in which over 1,550 customers participated.
While customers on all routes are advised to check times before travel, significant changes for Kildare and Laois commuters are ahead.
Firstly, there will be a new earlier Sunday service at 07:40 from Portlaoise to Heuston.
There will be 12 additional off-peak Commuter services between Newbridge and Heuston, resulting in trains every 30 minutes Monday to Friday.
New services have been added at 09:45, 10:40, 11:40, 12:40, 13:40 and 14:40 from Heuston to Newbridge.
While extra trains will run at 10:26, 11:40, 12:26, 13:26, 14:26 and 15:27 from Newbridge to Heuston.
There will be extra services between Hazelhatch and Grand Canal Dock, via Phoenix Park Tunnel on Monday to Friday.
There are new trains at 08:31 and 16.00 from Grand Canal Dock to Hazelhatch.
This is also a new 16:37 service from Hazelhatch to Grand Canal with the existing 15:50 Hazelhatch to Grand Canal Dock deferred to 15:53.
Two additional stops for Sunday services from Newbridge and Sallins have also been announced.
The 08:05 Galway to Heuston train will now serve Sallins while the 08:25 train from Limerick to Heuston will also serve Newbridge.
Improved journey times on Limerick/Ballybrophy services via Nenagh have also been announced due to recent infrastructure works, resulting in a 15-minute time saving.
While the 10:08 service from Ballybrophy to Limerick (via Nenagh) has been brought forward to 09:05.
A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said: “We are pleased to be implementing a number of changes which will benefit existing and new customers across our network.
“Passenger demand continues to strengthen across all routes, and with new carriages currently being delivered, and continuing training of new drivers, we will be able to further enhance services during 2023, including more improvements sought by customers during public consultation.”
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