Iarnród Éireann launches new early-morning service from Dublin to Limerick

THERE is some good news for Limerick commuters as Iarnród Éireann has announced a new daily weekday service which will get passengers to and from Dublin Heuston faster and earlier.

The new early-morning service from the Capital begins next Monday, December 11 as part of the roll out of a new timetable from Dublin Heuston to Cork, with a connection at Limerick Junction. 

The new 6am service, operating Monday to Friday, will arrive in Kent Station, Cork, at 8:32am, giving a pre-9am arrival from Dublin for the first time.  The service will also have a connection from Limerick Junction to Limerick, delivering a pre 8am arrival time in Limerick city at 7:58am.

For passengers travelling to Dublin, trains will depart from Colbert station at 5.25am, 6.10am and 6.40am on weekdays - all arriving at Heuston before 9am.

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Journey time improvements on many services between Dublin Heuston and Cork/ Limerick, arising from recent infrastructure works, also include an express morning non-stop, 2 hours 14 minutes service, departing Dublin at 6:15am

There will also be additional stops on a number of Heuston/Cork services at Portlaoise, to connect with the new Heuston/Portlaoise commuter services.

This represents the fastest ever scheduled service on the route.

The new timetable has been approved by the National Transport Authority, and follows public consultation in September, in which over 1,650 customers participated.

Customers on all routes – including Intercity, DART and commuter – are advised to check times before travel, as there may be minor time changes affecting your service.  

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said: “We are delighted to be in a position to begin an early 6:00am weekday service from Dublin Heuston to Cork, and to introduce a Limerick connection from this service also.  We believe this will be a very popular service, with the arrival in Cork well before 9am, and in Limerick before 8am, particularly attractive to business customers.

“We look forward to bringing these improvements to our services from December 10, which follow previous expansion of services in December 2022. Iarnród Éireann with the National Transport Authority will continue to identify opportunities for further service improvements in the context of post-Covid travel patterns, as demand approaches, and on some routes exceeds, pre-pandemic levels.  The purpose of investment in our network, fleet and services is to bring better service to customers and allow more people to make a sustainable travel choice.” 

Full timetables are available at HERE and the Iarnród Éireann app.