Irish Rail apologise to heavily bandaged pensioner who had to sit on the floor of a train to and from Dublin

Irish Rail has apologised to a pensioner who had to stand and eventually sit on the floor of a train to and from Dublin.

The pensioner who wishes to remain anonymous had gone to Dublin to undergo a medical procedure on his face. He was unable to get a seat when he boarded the train in Tullamore along with his Carer.

On his way back from Dublin following his hospital visit his face was heavily bandaged. However, once again he could find no seat and ended up sitting on the floor of the train between carriages.
He had to get up and down when people were passing.

Councillor Declan Harvey said he was furious over the matter and said it was a very poor indictment on Irish Rail and those able bodied who didn't offer him their seat.

A spokesperson for Irish Rail has said, ''firstly I would like to apologise to this customer for any distress caused.There was an onboard customer service officer on the service from Tullamore to Dublin and they would have been very happy to help this person to find his seat.

On the return journey the service did not have an onboard customer service officer, but this service did not have many bookings and there would have been ample seats available.''

Cllr Harvey said there didn't seem to be any CSO (Customer Services Officer) around to help him.

''Irish Rail shouldn't be selling tickets if the train is booked out, or they should at least inform people the train is booked and they may have to stand. Other than that they should put on extra carriages. My biggest concern is, it is a health and safety matter, nowhere else are you allowed to have overcrowding. That man had to stand the whole way down and his face all bandaged up.

Some of the staff should have seen this man and put him into priority seating or someone could have at least offered him a seat,'' fumed Cllr Harvey.

''Irish Rail need extra carriages at busier times of the day. They should advertise that all the seats are sold and there is standing room only. I have been on to Irish Rail to express our concerns. I have also been in touch with the Minister's office and I will inform Deputy Barry Cowen of the situation,''he added.