A RAIL MESS; 1000s of commuters left stranded after freight train derails on Belfast-Dublin line.

Byline: By MICHELLE O'KEEFFE

THOUSANDS of rail commuters were left stranded yesterday as a derailed freight train caused chaos.

More than 7,000 frustrated passengers were forced on to overcrowded buses and endure traffic tailbacks after Iarnrod Eireann cancelled all northern services into Dublin.

An Iarnrod Eireann spokeswoman said: "All services between Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin were suspended after a freight train derailed south of Skerries."

Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said a contingency plan must swing into action in a situation like this.

He added: "When this type of incident happens, it is imperative that Irish Rail drafts in alternative methods of transport when they are available."

Labour's Tommy Broughton slammed Iarnrod Eireann for their lack of contingency planning.

He said: "It seems Irish Rail were content to throw their hands up in air without making any effort to accommodate passengers.

"Passengers were simply directed to the nearest bus stop, many without any indication whether they would be entitled to a refund of their fare."

"I welcome the resumption of services on the route, but there must be assurances that, when the cause is found, similar events do not occur in the future."

Limited Dublin to Belfast services did resume yesterday. But while northbound trains between Dublin and Dundalk/Drogheda were expected to operate as normal after yesterday's rush hour, the same services will be cancelled over the weekend.

Bus transfers will operate for passengers on Enterprise routes.

The disruption began when six wagons carrying mineral ore went off the tracks in Hacketstown, 3km south of Skerries.

Although bus transfers have been operating for the Dublin to Belfast line to Drogheda and Dundalk, no extra services were made available for suburban routes.

Furious passenger Brian Hanratty, who is a member of the Commuter North Rail Users Group said: "It is ironic that the week Iarnrod Eireann put up their prices an incident on the line causes chaos.

"For such a relatively minor incident it has caused an appalling delay. It would indicate they were slow to respond if it is still causing such disruptions."

A mum from Drogheda, Co Louth, refused to allow her daughter get on the bus to school as it was dangerously overcrowded.

She said: "But when I saw how packed it was there was no way she was getting on it. It was like something from Calcutta.."

An Iarnrod Eireann spokesman said: "This is an extremely unusual and serious incident. The driver escaped unharmed and only six of the train's 11 carriages derailed.

It will be a limited service with trains alternating in opposite directions. We will use a crane to lift the wagons back on track."

'This was extremely serious and unusual but the driver was unhurt' - IARNROD EIREANN SPOKESWOMAN

'A relatively minor incident, has caused an appalling delay. They were slow to react' - COMMUTER BRIAN HANRATTY YESTERDAY

[e-mail]

CAPTION(S):

AFTERMATH: Rail workers help get derailed train back on track yesterday