Level-crossing keepers have deferred their strike, which would have caused widespread disruption to inter-city trains today.
They called off the action when Iarnrod Eireann agreed to pay them overtime for working Sundays and bank holidays; to invest £1 million in housing improvements and to introduce a day off once a week.
However, the level-crossing keepers may take further industrial action next Friday, if terms of reference for a working party to examine other grievances about the creation of a medical scheme are not agreed in the meantime.
Agreement to defer the strike was reached at 6 p.m. yesterday, six hours before it was due to begin. The strike would have disrupted bank holiday travel arrangements for between 80,000 and 100,000 people.
SIPTU branch secretary Mr Tony Tobin said the last two days of talks were "very difficult and strained". The package of benefits proposed by the company include double time for Sunday work and treble time for bank holidays, for its 314 level-crossing keepers.
A rest day system will be introduced until next April, by which time permanent rest days and 12-hour working should be introduced. Keepers now work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pay rates of £1.25p an hour are also to be reviewed. A lump sum equivalent to £300 will also be paid to each keeper.
However, Mr Tobin warned that if the company failed to honour its commitments his members would resume industrial action.
Iarnrod Eireann's human resources manager, Mr John Keenan, welcomed the decision of the level-crossing keepers. He said a review of the "marks" system, by which wages were calculated, would be part of the new arrangement, conceding that keepers had "low pay and appalling conditions that need to be rectified".
He anticipated that all rail services will now operate normally this weekend. Meanwhile, Dublin Bus drivers have voted by 542 to 304 to accept the terms for an independent review of wages. They are claiming a 20 per cent pay rise on the basis of rates paid to other drivers.
The general secretary of the National Bus and Railworkers Union, Mr Peter Bunting, welcomed the result and said the review would also include an examination of State subvention for public transport. It is to be carried out by Mr Sean Healy, the former head of advisory services at the Labour Relations Commission.