Commuters in Dublin have welcomed the new timetable for DART and train lines following criticism of changes introduced by Iarnród Éireann in August.
A new timetable came into effect on 26 August to facilitate extra Intercity services, as well as an hourly train between Dublin and Belfast.
But, just two weeks later, the timetable was changed in response to negative feedback from commuters.
However, this did not fix the problems.
Following complaints of huge commuter disruption due to the timetables changes, Iarnród Éireann scrapped it and this morning a timetable, which broadly similar to the one in place before the August changes, came into effect.
One change that has been kept is the additional services between Dublin and Belfast.
Iarnród Éireann said that will mean some slightly longer journey times and changes along that route.
At Connolly Station the board displaying train times was reporting delays of between four and six minutes to trains going to south Dublin.
Many of the problems arose for commuters travelling into the city from the northside.
Commuters on the train from Malahide into Connolly said they are hopeful the reversion to the old timetable will be better for them.
“Coming home in the evenings is the problem,” one commuter said.
“It’s chaos at Connelly.
“There’s two tracks going towards the north side, and normally it’s only one that is usable.”
He added that the trains were overcrowded.
“I’d say it’s actually dangerously overpacked and there’s people left on the platform that can’t get on.”
Another commuter said that the new timetable meant she was regularly late for work.
“Normally there’s like a lot of traffic, so you’d be waiting about 10-15 minutes for a train to come.” She added that when she checked the Iarnód Éireann website, she would be informed of at least a 10-minute delay.
Many commuters welcomed the return of the old timetable.
“It’s nice to have it back, 100%,” one commuter said.
“The trains were packed. It was insane.”
One commuter said that when the timetable was changed in August he did not feel the changes were communicated very well. However, with the change back, he felt that Iarnród Éireann had done a better job of letting commuters know what the changes meant for them.
One woman who said the changes regularly caused her delays was hopeful she would be on time this morning.
“Hopefully it’s back to normal, cause I really need it to be,” she said.
