WRC Services at Athenry

These scenes were filmed on the 27th January and the 6th February 2023 at Athenry featuring the 1025 Galway - Limerick and the 0920 Limerick-Galway services which cross at Athenry. The scenes captured on the 27th of January were filmed from the line side, but both services were noted as being at capacity. On the 6th February the 1025 Galway-Limerick which is normally a 2 piece railcar was strengthened to a 4 piece. Approximately 10-15 people joined this Limerick bound service and was 70% full departing Athenry. If this service had been the normal 2 piece railcar, passengers would have been standing. A short time later the the 0920 from Limerick arrived with the 4 piece train full and some standing (approx 200 passengers on board). Approx 20-25 alighted and joined the Galway bound service. This video clearly demonstrates the strong demand for services on the western rail corridor (WRC) and supports the recent 2022 passenger numbers issued by the NTA that show 607,000 passenger journeys between Galway and Limerick. The next steps for the NTA and Iranród Éireann is to capitalise on the fastest growing route in the country. Additional services (eight services per day each way minimum), clockface timetables, accelerating the services to sub 1 hour 40mins should be the key priorities.