Irish rail has set up an alcohol ban on four of their rail services following “constant complaints” of antisocial behaviour.
As of October 12th the 11:25am, 1:25pm and 3:35pm from Dublin’s Heuston Station to Galway will be alcohol free on Fridays. The ban has also been extended to the 2:45pm train to Westport.
“The vast majority of customers who wish to enjoy an alcoholic beverage on-board our services do so without impacting in anyway on their fellow passengers, but unfortunately there is a minority that do over indulge, particularly those travelling in large groups, who can disrupt others in a negative way,” a spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said.
“There have been high volumes of complaints of such behaviour on these services so we have taken the decision to ban all alcohol from them.”
A number of services have already had bans on alcohol in place such as the 1:15pm and 3:10pm services to Waterford from Heuston Station on Fridays.
On Sundays, the 1pm service from Galway as well as the 12:40pm, 3:10pm and 6:05pm from Waterford have also already been established.
“I think it’s common culture to drink on the train for hens and stag parties. Assuming it was the effects of alcohol that has brought on this decision, it’s very difficult to monitor the behaviour of the people drinking so the easiest thing to do for Irish rail is to get rid of the option to drink altogether,” said Chairperson of DCU Sober Society, Adam Healy.
Information of the alcohol ban is available at the stations affected, and on Irish Rail’s website for customers booking online.
Passengers attempting to board these services with alcohol will have their drink confiscated or may be asked to leave the train. Alcoholic beverages will no longer be sold on board.
Students in DCU have noted that in the past the behaviour of inebriated passengers have impacted their commute to college at the weekends.
“There’s plenty of other places to drink other than the train where kids, older people, or maybe just people trying to do college work could be annoyed by you,” said DCU Physics and Astronomy student, Sean Goodwin from Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
However some students felt that the ban was unnecessary. DCU general science student, Rory Martin from Banagher Co.Offaly said “When commuting last year, I spent quite a bit of time on Sunday evenings and Friday evenings on trains…
“But I honestly can’t remember a single instance of alcohol-fueled antisocial or inappropriate behaviour in all that time.”
Callum Lavery
Image Credit: ETB Travel News America