Commuters aboard the Cork to Dublin, or Belfast train can avail of a cool drink or a salty snack – but passengers boarding any other intercity service better come prepared, because catering services have never resumed since they were suspended in 2020 during Covid.
Many rail passengers have grown frustrated and have been campaigning to bring back catering services.
Labour Senator Nessa Cosgrove, a regular train user, is campaigning for the return of the tea-trolley on trains.
People often run to catch a train early in the morning or late in the evening when many shops are not open, she said.
“You’re three and a half hours without a drink or without access to anything.”
Ms Cosgrove recently highlighted the issue on social media by giving out free water and crisps to passengers.
“It went completely viral,” she told RTÉ’s News at One.
“Then loads of people started contacting me from across the country, from a lot of we’ll say the lines in Mayo, the lines in Galway, even down the east coast saying, you know, this is unfair.”
Also speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Barry Kenny from Irish Rail said there was catering on the Dublin-Cork service which benefits Kerry and Limerick with connections, and the Dublin-Belfast line.
However, he explained that with the funding available to them for catering, that is all they can cover at the moment.
“We’ve been out to the market several times on this; the costs post-Covid frankly escalated dramatically, and that is what we can cover at the moment.
He added that they did want to make catering available on other routes and are looking for “innovative solutions”.
“We have been working to see if we can provide an alternative supplier,” he said.
“Asking both the existing providers on the market and people that have nothing to do with train catering previously – give us innovative solutions, something that’s commercial, something that we can deliver at low or no cost, and we are working on that.”
Minister of State at the Department of Transport Seán Canney said that Irish Rail and the NTA are delivering the service on behalf of the Government and all options will be considered.
“People say why isn’t there a dispenser on board the train, and that’s something that could be looked at; they have to be serviced; they have to be secured. There’s money involved going into the machine…”
He added that when the Galway train station is fully operational, there will be catering services available at the station.
Mark Gleeson of the Rail Users Campaign said it would cost €14.7 million for a seven-year contract to cover the train routes for the rest of the country.
“It’s our understanding the department is not funding it, and we’ve seen FOI documentation which confirms that.”
“One of the great things travelling by train was you had space, you had a table – you could do some work, you could read a book, or you could have a meal.”
Mr Gleeson told RTÉ’s News at One that it was particularly tough for people coming from places like Tralee, Killarney, Westport, and Sligo to Dublin.
“Those journeys are over three, three and a half, four hours long; it’s unreasonable not to be able to access a cup of tea, or coffee or even a water during that period.”
Mr Kenny said water was available on board for emergency situations.
He added they hoped a pilot program would be up and running by September.