Three bomb alerts on the Northern line brought chaos to the railways today as the RUC warned the disruption was set to continue tomorrow.
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Telephone warnings caused the closure of the main Dublin to Belfast service. The route from Belfast to Derry and a busy commuter route into Belfast from Lisburn, Co Antrim, were also hit.
A suspect device found on the track at Finaghy in the Belfast suburbs caused major rush hour disruption both to rail and road users.
The Northern Ireland security forces were carrying out a search of the tracks to see if other devices had been left.
The alert was the 33rd on the main cross-border route this year. The track has been closed for over 15 days in total.
Dissident republicans have been blamed by the RUC for the alerts.
A spokeswoman for public transport company Translink condemned those behind the disruption and apologised for the inconvenience to passengers.
"It's very frustrating for everyone," she said.
"This is the first day back to school after the Easter holidays so a lot of kids have been affected as well as people trying to get to work.
"We provide a lifeline for the community and regret the disruption caused to passengers," she added.
Buses were laid on to get rail passengers around the closed lines.
Nationalist SDLP Assembly member Ms Carmel Hanna also criticised those behind the bomb alerts and said if those responsible were ever caught they needed to be given "strong sentences".
PA
