No safety limits on numbers carried in trains

Iarnród Éireann has said there are no specific regulations regarding the number of people who may be carried either standing or sitting on its trains.

Responding to complaints of crowded conditions, the company said there were no mandatory health and safety limits to which it must adhere when carrying passengers.

Maximum numbers
This position contrasts with that which applies to buses which are licensed to carry specified maximum numbers of passengers either sitting or standing.

Complaints of crowding have been made by Fine Gael backbench TDs Mary Mitchell O’Connor of Dún Laoghaire and Simon Harris of Wicklow, as well as Independent TD Luke “Ming” Flanagan of Roscommon.

A spokeswoman for the Railway Safety Commission told The Irish Times that Iarnród's position was correct.

Head of administration Caitríona Keenahan said “there is nothing laid down that says you can only have X amount of people sitting, or X amount of people standing in a train”. This was the situation “globally”.

The commission recently reported an increased number of complaints about overcrowding on Intercity trains to Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, which it intends to monitor over coming weeks.

Mr Varadkar told The Irish Times he expected to get a report on the issue "probably in January".

Fewer carriages
He also said there would be no two-carriage Dart trains between now and Christmas. The issue of Dart trains with fewer carriages, which were introduced as a cost-saving measure, has led to complaints of commuter overcrowding.

Following the complaints, Mr Varadkar told the Dáil the chief executive of Iarnród Éireann “has agreed to continuous monitoring of carriage levels on both Dart and Intercity services to ensure they match demand”.