{"id":666639,"date":"2026-10-27T08:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T08:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666639\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T08:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T08:26:14","slug":"the-wexford-opera-train-returned-for-one-night-only-at-e479-a-ticket-heres-what-you-got-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/666639\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wexford opera train returned for one night only. At \u20ac479 a ticket here\u2019s what you got \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A train full of operagoers is making its way from Dublin to Wexford<\/a>. Everybody is smoking copiously as a journalist moves through the carriages, asking pointed questions.<\/p>\n

How does the opera crowd compare with regular passengers? The main difference, a waiter explains in this RT\u00c9 news clip from 1973, is that they require a more complicated meal. Otherwise they\u2019re a very nice, older, more sedate group.<\/p>\n

The journalist moves on to the diners. \u201cDo you think there\u2019s a certain amount of pretension in dressing up and going down to Wexford for the opera?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d comes the reply. \u201cIt\u2019s a great occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m all for a great occasion.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 3pm on a sunny October afternoon, and my friend and I are standing on platform 5 at Dublin Connolly in gowns and furs. We\u2019re the first to arrive, and for a few minutes we feel a little self-conscious. Then a man in black tie appears.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you going on the opera train?\u201d my friend asks.<\/p>\n

Her wild guess is correct: he is, like us, here for the return of the Wexford Opera Train, which is running for the first time in almost two decades as part of Wexford Festival Opera<\/a>\u2019s 75th-anniversary celebrations. By coincidence, tonight\u2019s production is The Gambler, the opera those travellers were on their way to see in that 1973 newsreel.<\/p>\n

As the crowd gathers, it becomes clear that we are the youngest passengers by about 40 years. The only exception is a group of students who arrive shortly afterwards: the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin<\/a>, for whom tonight is part of their scholarships.<\/p>\n

Our departure is delayed by animals on the tracks, which adds to the faintly circus-like, storybook quality of the afternoon. Nobody seems particularly put out, as there\u2019s no hurry.<\/p>\n

\"WexfordWexford Festival Opera: the opera train. Photograph: P\u00e1draig Grant \"WexfordWexford Festival Opera: Michelle Hoctor and Olive Braiden on the opera train. Photograph: P\u00e1draig Grant <\/p>\n

When it finally pulls into the station, the train is a dark-green relic of the 1970s, preserved by railway enthusiasts and brought out for this occasion. It\u2019s true that everything was better made back then. The seats are plusher, the carpets thicker, and the whole thing feels designed for a time when travelling was more of an event.<\/p>\n

The tables are laid with white cloths. We settle into our seats and are offered champagne.<\/p>\n

As we roll out of Dublin, the city gives way to the coast, with views of the Poolbeg towers and the suburbs.<\/p>\n

Dinner begins with a salmon and prawn salad, followed by seared hake and a selection of desserts. The waiters are generous with the wine, and the mood grows increasingly festive. At one point the Choral Scholars are brought out to sing Happy Birthday in the festival\u2019s honour.<\/p>\n

\"WexfordWexford Festival Opera: Ruby Eastwood (right) and her friend on the opera train \"WexfordWexford Festival Opera: the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin on the opera train. Photograph: P\u00e1draig Grant <\/p>\n

By the time we reach Wexford, night has fallen and a storm has blown in. We emerge from the station into the rain, where people are waiting with umbrellas to shepherd us on to buses to the National Opera House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tonight\u2019s production of The Gambler is staged in a striking black-and-white world, complete with ballerinas in red tutus. Michael Dervan, The Irish Times critic, gives the opera five stars<\/a>. Hassan, an Egyptian-born theatre critic I chat to during the interval, says it\u2019s a work of genius, a musical depiction of the paranoia of the upper classes.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Gambler review \u2013 Challenging Prokofiev comes to life in five-star productionOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In truth, I fell asleep. Between the wine, the rich dinner, the rhythmic movement of the train and the general excess of pageantry, I\u2019m ready to curl up and sleep.<\/p>\n

On the way back to the train an older gentleman turns to me cheerfully.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow was your nap?\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m mortified. Had everyone seen me sleeping? Worse, had I been snoring?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t snoring, was I?\u201d I ask my friend.<\/p>\n

But she can\u2019t tell me. She was asleep too.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, it transpires that the man hasn\u2019t singled me out. He turns to another passenger and asks the same question. This person cheerfully admits to having had a snooze as well but says the second half was a good deal more lively than the first.<\/p>\n

I had imagined the train would be populated by opera fanatics, people riveted by Prokofiev<\/a> \u2013 a breed I rarely encounter in my daily life. Instead they\u2019re happy to admit the experience was a little soporific, if entirely pleasant.<\/p>\n

At \u20ac479 a ticket, however, it\u2019s a very expensive nap.<\/p>\n

This is what I\u2019m trying to work out on the train home. The atmosphere has loosened considerably. The card-and-cash bar is open, with proceeds going to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland<\/a>, and passengers are moving between tables and making friends.<\/p>\n

I get talking to Ultan Herr, who tells me he is one of the Palatines<\/a>, descendants of the German-speaking settlers who came to Ireland in the 18th century.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Irish Palatines: Frank McNally on a forgotten immigrant communityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

For him the opera train is actually the economical option. If he and his wife had driven to Wexford independently, stayed in a hotel, gone out for meals and bought opera tickets, he reckons they could easily have spent \u20ac700 each. At \u20ac479, the train represents a saving.<\/p>\n

For other passengers the appeal is the romance of the whole thing: the vintage carriages, the dressing up, the champagne, the sense of occasion. \u201cIt\u2019s an escape,\u201d one woman says. \u201cA lovely escape from ordinary life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A train full of operagoers is making its way from Dublin to Wexford. Everybody is smoking copiously as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,59197,282372,282373,9270,51306],"class_list":["post-666639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-national-opera-house","tag-railway-preservation-society-of-ireland","tag-sergei-prokofiev","tag-wexford","tag-wexford-festival-opera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}