Disruption returned to Iarnrod Eireann's Dublin-Westport route yesterday amid allegations that drivers were being intimidated by members of the breakaway ILDA workers' group.
Yesterday's 6.30 p.m. train from Dublin to Co Mayo was forced to stop in Claremorris as the driver, a member of the National Bus and Railworkers' Union (NBRU), declared he would not travel to Westport.
The Ballina-based driver was the same employee whose return to work on Tuesday resulted in the first train for almost eight weeks arriving in Westport.
Mr Hyles McHugh, Iarnrod Eireann's business development manager for the west, said that in the interim period the driver had been subjected to "quite serious intimidation by ILDA personnel".
He said the intervention was "cynical and vindictive", adding "it is very difficult for young drivers in particular to face up to their more senior members in this situation".
Rail services to and from Westport and Castlebar will terminate at Claremorris for the foreseeable future. Bus transfers will accommodate passengers. No one from ILDA was available to comment last night on the allegations.
Apart from the setback in Westport, Iarnrod Eireann said rail services were improving for people around the State. The continuing presence of small ILDA pickets at the main stations was dismissed as "a handful of people at the back gates" by an Iarnrod Eireann spokesman.
Four trains ran to and from Tralee, while the Dublin to Cork and Dublin to Limerick services also improved, with eight trains running in each direction.
Waterford had three out of four services restored in each direction while Sligo was almost operating at normal levels, with only a few bus transfers. Rosslare, Galway and Belfast continued to have a full service.
On Monday, ILDA representatives picketed bus depots in Cork and Limerick, disrupting some services in Cork between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.
However, Mr Cyril McIntyre, spokesman for Bus Eireann, said there was no disruption to his company's services and he was not aware of any major pickets at stations. "There may well be pickets here and there but if they are there they are being ignored," he said.