Iarnród Éireann

thumb|right|A 29000 Class Commuter train at Tara Street Station, Dublin, in 2006. The [[Light-emitting diode|LED display is showing "Destination: Pearse Station" in Irish.]]

thumb|right|A Mark 4 carriage on the [[Dublin–Cork railway line]]

thumb|right|The original four rails logo 1987–1994

Iarnród Éireann, () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal InterCity, Commuter, DART and freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with Northern Ireland Railways, the Enterprise service between Dublin and Belfast. In 2025, IÉ carried a record peak of 55 million passengers.

thumb|An IÉ 22000 Class DMU (22054) at Drogheda MacBride

Until 2013, Ireland was the only European Union state that had not implemented EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having derogated from its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses, and allow open access by private companies to the rail network. A consultation on the restructuring of Iarnród Éireann took place in 2012. The derogation ended on 14 March 2013 when the company was split in 2 sectors: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager.

Mary Considine was appointed Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann in October 2025.

Organisation

At the time of its establishment, the company referred to itself as Irish Rail and adopted the four rails IR logo. In 1994, the company brought the Irish form of its name to the fore, introducing a logo and corporate branding based on the letters IÉ (Iarnród Éireann) branding and logo. Both languages remained part of the official company name ("Iarnród Éireann – Irish Rail"). In January 2013, a new logo was introduced with a new bilingual branding; it made its first appearance in early January on online timetables, before officially launching on the 21st. In late 2013 the logo was updated again with a new font.

Operationally, services are divided across four regional areas:

Northern and Eastern services are managed from Connolly (including Sligo in the North-West)
Southern and Western services are managed from Heuston

Services

Passenger services

IÉ's passenger services are branded under three main names; InterCity, Commuter and DART.

InterCity

thumb|Train passing through the [[Curragh in County Kildare]]

InterCity services are long-distance routes radiating mainly from Dublin. The Belfast – Dublin service, jointly operated with Northern Ireland Railways, is branded separately as Enterprise. Dublin's two main InterCity stations are Connolly and Heuston. Intercity services run to/from Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Ennis, Galway, Waterford, Rosslare Europort, Sligo, Westport, Wexford and Ballina. Dublin's third major station, Pearse, is the terminus for much of the suburban network in the Greater Dublin area. An additional two InterCity services runs from Limerick to Limerick Junction and from Limerick Junction to Waterford. This service formerly operated through to Rosslare Europort but services between Waterford and Rosslare Europort ceased after the last train on 18 September 2010. Bus Éireann now operates route 370 through the affected towns as replacement transport.

A new service began on 29 March 2010 from Limerick to Galway, as part of the Western Rail Corridor, reopening the long-closed line.

A January 2012 national newspaper article suggested that Iarnród Éireann was expected to seek permission in the near future from the National Transport Authority to close the Limerick–Ballybrophy railway line and the Limerick–Waterford line.

Commuter

thumb|A 29000 Class in the old 'plug' livery south of [[Bray Daly railway station|Bray Daly]]

The majority of Commuter services are based in Dublin, which has four commuter routes: Northern (to Drogheda MacBride), Western (Connolly Station or Docklands to Maynooth/M3 Parkway), South-Western (to Sallins and Naas Railway Station) and South-Eastern (to Kilcoole). See Dublin Suburban Rail for more details.

The Cork Suburban Rail currently has three Commuter services: to Mallow and Cobh, and a third service to Midleton which became operational on a part of the disused Youghal branch line on 30 July 2009.

Limerick Suburban Rail currently consists of two lines to Ennis and Nenagh, with shuttle services to Limerick Junction. A Commuter service operates between Galway to Oranmore and Athenry.

Commuter trains also operate on shuttle duty for branches from the main InterCity services from Mallow to Tralee (off the Dublin – Cork route) and from Manulla Junction to Ballina (off the Dublin – Westport route), as well as acting as InterCity trains for Dublin – Rosslare and some Dublin – Sligo services, and as the aforementioned Limerick – Limerick Junction – Waterford service.

DART

thumb|A [[Dublin Area Rapid Transit|DART 8500 Class in Greystones]]

thumb|Interior of the [[Dublin Area Rapid Transit|DART 8520 Class]]

The north–south route along Dublin's eastern coastal side is also host to DART, Ireland's only electrified heavy-rail service. The DART consists of many types of trains, the oldest and most famous one being the 8100 Class which still operates, now extensively refurbished.

thumb|A DART 8520 Class arriving at Connolly Station

Services table

The following is a simplified table of Monday - Friday off-peak services. Various irregular calling patterns have been omitted for clarity.

{| class="wikitable"

!colspan="2"| Route !! Frequency Per Direction !! Calling at

|style="background:#2C3838; color:White" align=center| Enterprise || to Belfast Grand Central station ||align=center| 1

| , , , , (1tpw) (1tpw) service jointly operated with NI Railways

|style="background:Black; color:White" align=center| Sligo InterCity || Dublin Connolly to Sligo MacDiarmada|| align="center" | 1 || , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

|rowspan="2" style="background:Teal; color:White" align=center| Mayo InterCity|| to ||align=center| 5 || (1tpd), , , Clara, , , , , , ,

| Manulla Junction to || align="center" | 1 ||

|style="background:Maroon; color:White" align=center| Galway InterCity || Dublin Heuston to || align="center" | >1 || Portarlington, Tullamore, , Athlone, , , (4tpd), ,

|rowspan="2" style="background:Yellow; color:Black" align=center| Limerick InterCity || Dublin Heuston to ||align=center| 1 || , (1tpd), (2tpd), ,

|Ballybrophy – Limerick Colbert

| align=center| 2 || , , , ,

|style="background:Pink; color:White" align=center| Cork Intercity || Dublin Heuston to || align="center" | 1 || Portlaoise, Ballybrophy (2tpd) Templemore (1tpd), Thurles, Limerick Junction, (1tpd),

|style="background:Brown; color:White" align=center| Tralee Intercity || Dublin Heuston to || align="center" | 1 || Ballybrophy, Templemore, Thurles, Charleville, , , , ,

|style="background:Blue; color:White" align=center| Waterford Intercity || Dublin Heuston to ||align=center| 9 || (1tpd), (1tpd), (3tpd), Kildare (7tpd), , , , ,

|style="background:Orange; color:White" align=center| Wexford Intercity || Dublin Connolly to || align="center" | 4 || , , (2tpd northbound-only), (2tpd northbound-only), (2tpd northbound-only), Dún Laoghaire Mallin, , , (5tpd), , , , , , and .

6 tpd (per direction) from Connolly to Gorey. 5 tpd (per direction) from Connolly to Wexford O'Hanrahan.

|style="background:#6699CC; color:White" align=center| Waterford – Limerick || Waterford Plunkett to Limerick Junction|| align="center" | 2 || , , ,

|rowspan="3" style="background:Gold; color:White" align=center| Limerick – Galway || Limerick Colbert to || align="center" | 9 ||

| Limerick Colbert to Galway Ceannt|| align="center" | 5 || Sixmilebridge, Ennis, , , , Athenry, Oranmore

2tpd operate to/from Limerick Junction.

| Athenry to Galway Ceannt|| align="center" | 2 || Oranmore

|style="background:Navy; color:White" align=center|Northern Commuter || Dublin Connolly to Drogheda MacBride|| align="center" | 1 || (1tpd), (1tpd), (2tpd), , , , , , , some peak trains run to/from Dundalk Clarke, Dublin Pearse, Bray Daly, Gorey or Rosslare Europort

| rowspan="2" style="background:Blue; color:White" align="center" | South Western Commuter || Grand Canal Dock to Hazelhatch and Celbridge|| align="center" | 1|| Dublin Pearse, Tara Street, Dublin Connolly, Drumcondra, , , and

| Dublin Heuston to Portlaoise|| align="center" | 2|| , , , , Hazelhatch and Celbridge, Sallins and Naas, Newbridge (1tph terminates), Kildare, and Portarlington

| rowspan="3" style="background:Purple; color:White" align="center" | Western Commuter || Dublin Connolly to Maynooth|| align="center" | 2|| Drumcondra, , , , , , , , and Some peak-hour trains operate to/from Dublin Pearse.

3tpd continue to Mullingar/Longford (both call at all stations)

| Clonsilla to || align="center" | 1 || and

|Docklands to M3 Parkway (Monday – Friday only) || align="center" | 12 || Broombridge, Pelletstown, Ashtown, Navan Road Parkway, Castleknock, Coolmine, Clonsilla, Hansfield and Dunboyne

| rowspan="2" style="background:Brown; color:White" align="center" | Cork Commuter || Cork Kent to || align="center" | 2|| , and

| Cork Kent to || align="center" | 2|| Littleisland, Glounthaune, , and

| rowspan="2" style="background:Green; color:White" align="center" | DART || to Bray Daly|| align="center" | 3|| Sutton, Bayside, Howth Junction & Donaghmede, Kilbarrack, Raheny, Harmonstown, Killester, Clontarf Road, Dublin Connolly, Tara Street, Dublin Pearse, Grand Canal Dock, Lansdowne Road, Sandymount, Sydney Parade, Booterstown, Blackrock, Seapoint, Salthill & Monkstown, Dún Laoghaire Mallin, Sandycove & Glasthule, Glenageary, Dalkey, Killiney and Shankill. 1tph extended to Greystones.

| Malahide to Bray Daly || align="center" | 3 || Portmarnock, Clongriffin, Howth Junction & Donaghmede, Kilbarrack, Raheny, Harmonstown, Killester, Clontarf Road, Dublin Connolly, Tara Street, Dublin Pearse, Grand Canal Dock, Lansdowne Road, Sandymount, Sydney Parade, Booterstown, Blackrock, Seapoint, Salthill & Monkstown, Dún Laoghaire Mallin, Sandycove & Glasthule, Glenageary, Dalkey, Killiney and Shankill. 1tph extended to Greystones.

Freight services

Iarnród Éireann also has responsibility for running freight services on the Irish network through its Freight Division – which recorded a tonnage decrease of 19.2% in 2019,

The former Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD had announced that an additional 51 railcars had been ordered for the company for a planned introduction on services between Dublin, Louth, and Meath. They were placed into service in 2011/2012 but this plan was badly affected by the recession with 21 surpluses to requirements at the end of 2012.

1916 station renaming

thumb|IÉ 2750 Class DMU (2753) at Inchicore Works

Although the majority of Iarnród Éireann's stations are simply named after the towns they serve, a number of stations in major towns and cities were renamed after leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, on its 50th anniversary in 1966:

Dublin Connolly (formerly Amiens Street)
Dublin Heuston (formerly Kingsbridge)
Dublin Pearse (formerly Westland Row)
Dún Laoghaire Mallin
Bray Daly
Cork Kent (formerly Glanmire Road)
Kilkenny MacDonagh
Limerick Colbert
Tralee Casement
Dundalk Clarke
Drogheda MacBride
Sligo Mac Diarmada
Galway Ceannt
Waterford Plunkett
Wexford O'Hanrahan

Network Catering

IÉ's Network Catering unit provided a trolley service of food and drink, a snack car and (on some routes) a restaurant service. It also operated a restaurant at Dún Laoghaire. According to Iarnród Éireann's annual report, the unit lost €297,000 in 2004. In 2006, Iarnród Éireann outsourced the catering on the Dublin-Belfast service to Corporate Catering Ltd, and all InterCity services were taken over by Rail Gourmet in March 2007. Rail Gourmet withdrew from the contract in 2020, and no longer provides catering for any Iarnród Éireann services. In 2023, a contactless catering service was established on the Cork to Dublin line.

Rolling stock

(excluding the Enterprise service):

InterCity services have a fleet of 265 carriages.
Commuter services have a fleet of 148 carriages.
DART services have a fleet of 134 carriages.
Dublin-Belfast Enterprise has a fleet of 28 carriages.

InterCity and Enterprise fleet

IÉ 201 Class Locomotive
IÉ 22000 Class DMU
Mark 4
De Dietrich Rolling stock

Locomotive fleet

Current

CIÉ 071 Class/NIR Class 110 locomotive
IÉ 201 Class/NIR Class 201 locomotive

Former

CIÉ 001 Class locomotive
CIÉ 201 Class locomotive
CIÉ 121 Class locomotive
CIÉ 141 Class locomotive
CIÉ 181 Class locomotive

Commuter fleet

thumb|An Iarnród Éireann 29000 Class DMU (29409) at Dublin Connolly Station, in Dublin

Current

IÉ 2600 Class DMU
IÉ 2800 Class DMU
IÉ 29000 Class DMU
IÉ 22000 Class DMU

Former

IÉ 2700 Class DMU
IÉ 2750 Class DMU

DART fleet

thumb|IÉ 8300 Class at Dún Laoghaire

Current

CIÉ 8100 Class EMU
IÉ 8500 Class EMU
IÉ 8510 Class EMU
IÉ 8520 Class EMU

Former

IÉ 8200 Class EMU

Future fleet

IÉ's increasing fleet usage has led to requirements being made for the procurement of additional vehicles. DART services are running with all trains formed of 4–8 cars, while 54 sets of 63 fleet of ICRs are committed to services with 56 required on Friday. To this end, IÉ plans to purchase a significant number of new ICR vehicles – an initial purchase of 41 will be made for delivery in 2021, comprising three new trains, with the remainder planned as intermediate vehicles to lengthen existing units. The deal for the new vehicles is intended to include options for up to 40 further vehicles. There are also plans for a total replacement of the existing DART fleet, which will be combined with extensions to the DART network. The framework for the DART fleet is planned for up to 600 vehicles formed into four-car and eight-car sets, split into both pure EMU and BEMU trains.