Ireland's InterCity Train! - ICR Standard Class Review

I can see that the price went down, as I am forced to come from Cork City To Dublin Airport and back some 2-3 times a year. I would normally consider train as a first option, but since it is dearer and usually less reliable as for being on time than a bus, I am taking a bus. Less romantic, but reliable and many different companies with flexible time-tables, and I'm keeping around 20 Euro in my pocket each journey. But I like local service to Cobh - the only one left in Cork area. It's sad to think that in XIX century Ireland had the best railroad infrastructure in Europe and now it has 5 main and maybe 5 local lines altogether... Look up old rail roads maps - It's quite a shock.

Good thing all 🚄 lines run from county Dublin to all of Ireland😊

Amazing video

Galway isn't the Main terminal station it's Heuston.

lovely video! if you think this is crowded, just check out dublin-rosslare lol, they cram so many passengers into a 3 or 4 car unit! the irish rail network will probably never be fully electrified, although DART+ will see electrification towards drogheda in the north, and the commuter line from dublin heuston, so it will be much better. you would also be right in saying we have very little freight, only 4 services in the whole country! but this too is improving with the rail freight strategy 2040, that is pretty distant though

To bad that Irish Rail has no service to Donegal I have to take a bus from Dublin Intl.

I’m not trying to be stereotypical but Aparently Irish people are known to be Unintelligent. Well that’s wrong when it comes to railway because it seems more reliable than the English version!

I traveled roundtrip between Dublin and Cork in 2018, and overall I thought the service was great (quick, a clock-face schedule, very nice trains, decent quality catering), my only complaints were the expensive walk-up fares (I had just flown overnight from Boston and didn't want to book in advance, in case of a delay. Next time I'll reserve and just make sure I have a few extra hours in Dublin, since I made it from the airport to Heuston in plenty of time for the train I wanted) and that the exteriors of both trains I took were filthy, and that detracted the views out the windows. You would think that since the stunning Irish scenery is one of the advantages of the train, Iarnród Éireann would be a little bit more attentive of this..

Irish Rail is like something out of the early '80. Not a clue how to run or organise anything. Totally chaotic for the most part. Full of talentless, couldn't give a damn workers. Shameless. Privatise and get rid of most of them. On a train now, PA system not working properly and the train hasn't been cleaned properly. At a standstill in the middle of nowhere and no explanation. A complete joke. And the price I was charged for a single ticket from Galway to Dublin. Someone is taking the piss and getting away with it.

No one in authority cares a hoot about Irish Rail. Dirty unreliable, with violent passengers onboard. Avoid.

Catering trollies just reintroduced on Dublin Cork route.

Dublin Area Rapid Transport trains are electrified.- DART

Reason for lack of electrification or investment in rail outside Dublin is down to extremely low pop desity outside Dublin. There just isnt a case for. Notice who was travelling on the train, 90% OAPs and tourists.

That is a good point about freight. Here in RepOI the cuts in lines and routes which the government thought would save money pushed goods transport on to the roads which were subsidised by the EU for a while until Brussels got tired of Dublin-centric spending and much corruption causing a reduction.
Irish Rail still owns cuttings and thousands of tons of stacked up track which could be used for freight traffic with a smattering of passenger services (see historical maps) but it was politically expedient to create the 'inter city' network and throw in some local services when we natives get a bit noisy.
The Korean and Spanish train sets are adequate, helped by our broader 5' 3" gauge and not all toilets are nasty but the clear divide between Dublin and 'the interior' is underlined by Dublin having too many stations and still managing to accomplish much waiting when things clog up. Sometimes people get off and catch buses to avoid this.
The lack of electrification is partly due to ROI's over 90% dependence for energy on the UK (at a discount not deserved) and we hear of electric trains coming in due course. Some rail engineers believe that hydrogen fueling is more likely in terms of population and area and could improve the chances of re-laying track for a projected freight/passenger mix linking the somewhat crazily separated main routes.

I can see you have not gotten around to it yet so... YES i would love to see more Irish trains and more of Ireland. please

Irish weather SUCKS!

Seems Ireland railway system has a long way to improve.

Ireland's railway isnt electric YET, im pretty sure while it hasn't been officially announced yet, there is plans to electrify the most busy routes

The reason there is no catering is because the company that had the contract for it went bust during covid since then there has been no catering

I went there










M

Ireland does have electric trains, but they only work DART services as of now. These units operate on 1.5kV overhead, ranging top speeds between 60-70mph. The national speed limit in mainland Ireland and Northern Ireland is 100mph, which only very few electrified lines have.

I take this route once a month to see my Grandparents in Galway and I very like it.

My girlfriend took this route just a few days ago but in the opposite direction. Today she took the rail from Galway to Cork, changing at Limerick. It's always amazing to me how much value for money European rail travel is. Here in the US we pay through the nose for comparable distances, at least 3 times as much, and for generally worse service. It's always a pleasure to come back to Europe and ride the trains, and we hope to come back to Ireland together soon enough to do it! 😀

Highly doubt the railways will be electrified, next gen trains will be battery electric or hydrogen.

Platform 10 at Heuston was only used for a short period of time when the station was being refurbished, I can't remember when exactly but early 2000s I think. Nowadays it's only used as a driver interchange point for the service between Grand Canal Dock and Hazelhatch. There's no public access. But they have done some work on it recently such as installing updated passenger information displays, which might mean they plan to use it but could also just be a guinea pig.

Please remove dreadful background noise, ruins video, better without.

Dart dublin is elevtrical

I did some online research and it seems like the double-tracked main trunk line from Dublin to Cork will be upgraded and electrified in the near future.

cost of electrtrfication these days is probably the reason they aren't electrified. No problem. Hydrogen has arrived which produces the electricity on board. All trains, and indeed whole economies, will be hydrogen based in the future.

Just so you know ICR trains do have a configuration that includes first class.
Its usually only used on Belfast (when normal enterprise isnt available) or cork (when normal cork config not available) or mayo line for some reason

Surely Galway to Dublin is across the "width" of the country, not the length, which would be from Derry to Cork.

If you think these vibrate a lot, try riding on the 29000 Class

Dia dhuit!

Just to clarify, there is one electric rail operator in the heart, north and south of Dublin, called the Dublin Area Rapid Transit. Its route lies amongst the ones that the Intercity and Commuter trains use.

You are just worried about the shaking water and missing the beauty of Ireland , what a silly footage 😮

I really like our rail system here in ireland your reveiw was very accurate and we do need to upgrade out trains to electric and sadly the irish rail services absolutely loves closing down as many routes as possible wich is just a shame really great video

Стой стой англичан пускают в Ирландию чё за хуйня

Is this Iceland or Ireland

Что я и ожидал

Still beats the non existent amaeican rail system

It takes about the same time by bus...

What an ugly station in Galway. Even the artwork doesn't help it!!!

Bro, the new seats are so uncomfortable. They used to have a blue cotton one, but the new black leather one is just so uncomfortable.

The 29000 Class looks a lot like the BR Class 222 to my opinion.

The majority of Ireland’s railway network is unnelectrified. This is because it has not been a priority when it comes to transport. Over the last decade or two roads have been the main priority, since we had such a bad road network before the EU helped us. We had no motorway until the 1980s. The only electrified rail in Ireland is the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) tram that runs from Greystones to Howth or Malahide (depending which line it is). New DART trains are due this year and it’s hoped that the electrified section will be extended to Drogheda. The Luas tram serving suburban Dublin and Dublin City Centre is also electrified.

Feel a little bit stupid saying this but what is the ‘favourite excuse’? I really want to know.