Council calls for early morning Kilkenny commuter train services

Calls for an improved early morning service commuter service connecting Kilkenny and Waterford for workers and students were made at the County Council’s monthly meeting this week.

A motion brought forward by Labour Councillors Seán Ó hArgáin and Tomás Breathnach urged the Council to support demands for increased services on the Heuston to Waterford line to enable commuters to reach Waterford City in time for the beginning of their work and university days.

Currently, the first train leaves Heuston at 7:20am, reaching Kilkenny at 9:05am, Thomastown at 9:21am and Waterford at 9:45am, a timetable insufficient for those needing to reach their destination in advance of 9am.

Praising the addition of nighttime services, councillors pushed for more morning options. Cllr Ó hÁrgáin criticised the ‘huge block’ that the current timetable puts in place for commuters and connected this with the worsening traffic congestion on roads like the M9 and M50, the subject of a recent Prime Time investigation.

He also bemoaned the ‘appalling provisions for cyclists that want to bring their bikes on the train’.

The push for early morning services in Waterford and Kilkenny joins movements in other parts of the country with Cllr Tomás Breathnach highlighting the need to promote such improvements at a time where Government tries to cut emissions from vehicles. 

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“It behoves us as a Council to promote any public transport initiative we can”, he said. The motion was supported by the Council as a whole and also included a provision to write to Transport for Ireland, Iarnród Éireann and the Minister for Transport, Daragh O’Brien to demand that the service be put in place as soon as possible.

Enhanced services were provided in 2024 with the addition of trains between Heuston and Waterford departing at 8:20pm in both when the previous latest departure from Heuston was at 6:35pm, greatly improving travel options to and from the capital in the evening.

Early morning commuters will be hoping that similar pressure might drive Iarnród Éireann into action to add new services at the other end of the day also.

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