More Offaly people opting to use trains

TRAVELLING by train appears to be growing in popularity in Offaly  as more people choose the comfort of rail travel over the stress of driving. With growing frustration over long traffic delays, many commuters and travellers are turning to trains as a more convenient alternative avoiding long delays on roads.

According to the latest Census figures, a total of 1,834 people used Tullamore Railway Station on Census day November 14, 2024, up from 1,395 on the year before, a 31% increase.

Tullamore had a total of 962 boardings on the day, up from 685 in 2023. This was a 41% increase.

Of those boardings, 705 were described as heading towards Heuston and 257 were described as travelling to Athlone and beyond.

There were a total of 872 alightings in Tullamore in 2024, up 23% from the previous year's figure of 710. Of the 872 disembarking, 624 got off of trains heading towards Athlone and further afield and 248 departed from services heading towards Heuston.

Meanwhile, Clara Railway Station saw a total of 405 passengers using train services on Census day. This was up 63% from the 249 users in 2023.

There were 221 boardings as 153 passengers got on Heuston-bound trains and 68 boarded services to Athlone and beyond. This was a 78% increase in the figures from the year before.

There were 204 alightings as 61 passengers got off trains heading towards Heuston and 143 alighted from services heading in the Athlone direction.

The total number of alightings was up 63% from the 2023 number of 125.

2024 was a record year for rail travel in Ireland. There were 50.7m passenger journeys in 2024 recorded by Irish Rail. This is the highest in the history of the state.

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