While Dublin's bus and DART services were back to normal yesterday after Wednesday's lightning pickets by the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association, disruption to the national rail service is expected to continue today. There were hopes of an improvement in the rail situation yesterday when ILDA withdrew its eight-week picket from the station in Westport, Co Mayo, and the Labour Court and Labour Relations Commission said they would intervene in the dispute.
Mr Finbar Masterson, an ILDA executive member and Westport-based train driver, said the Westport picket had been removed "temporarily". He said the decision was taken "to allow the sides to get together if necessary. This will take some of the heat out of the situation."
Earlier, Mr Masterson rejected accusations from Iarnrod Eireann that ILDA members intimidated a Westport train driver who had temporarily returned to work, forcing the suspension of services to Westport less than 24 hours after they had resumed.
Mr Masterson said the suspension of the picket had nothing to do with claims of intimidation. "This will allow time for reflection on all sides. I have no problem with the train going to West port but it is important that drivers just do their own work rota. The pickets can be returned tomorrow," he said.
Mr Myles McHugh, Iarnrod Eireann's western business development manager, welcomed the suspension of the picket. He renewed his call to ILDA members to return to work and resolve any differences under the company's grievance procedure.
Mr Barry Kenny, a spokesman for Iarnrod Eireann, did not expect an improvement in train services today. He said a similar level of operation as on previous Fridays would be provided.
Three trains in each direction are scheduled to run the Dublin-Westport route today but it is expected that each will terminate at Claremorris. Passengers from Westport and Castlebar will travel by bus to and from Clare morris while Ballina and Foxford passengers will change trains in Claremorris to connect with the Ballina shuttle service.
The service from Drogheda to Dublin will run at about two-thirds of its normal level while the Kildare Arrow will operate at less than half. Eight trains will run in each direction on the Dublin to Cork route today, with three from Dublin to Cork and two from Cork to Dublin requiring bus transfers.
There will be five trains from Dublin to Tralee and three from Tralee to Dublin. Seven trains will travel from Dublin to Limerick, with six in the opposite direction. Waterford, Galway, Rosslare and Belfast will have a full service, while Sligo will be close to normal with some bus transfers.
Fears that ILDA would cause further problems for Dublin's transport system did not materialise yesterday with the DART and buses returning to normal service.