Fresh calls have been made for a dedicated Garda unit for Ireland’s rail system as crime soars on the network, a report shows.
It came as Irish Rail revealed it was hit with more than 2,000 cases of anti-social behaviour last year. A rail trade union spokesman last night fumed: “The problems won’t go away until people realise that there are going to be court appearances.”
The semi-State Iarnrod Eireann yesterday detailed the woes in a report showing a rise of anti-social behaviour. These include smoking; alcohol and drug misuse, aggressive behaviour, criminal damage, assaults, theft of passengers’ property and lewd behaviour.
Read more: Huge spike in anti-social behaviour on Luas in last three years
Iarnrod Eireann spokesperson Barry Kenny said the “vast majority of people travel without incident” but confirmed “anti-social behaviour” does take place. The corporate communications manager said: “We’re not immune from it.”
The report lists a total of 1,300 incidents of smoking, alcohol and drug misuse, 330 instances of aggressive behaviour, 262 incidents involving criminal damage, 208 assaults and cases of fighting, 76 cases of theft of property and 25 incidents of lewd behaviour. Irish Rail’s report logged concerns that a man was harassing females at its Mallow station, that an employee was attacked at Portarlington Station in Laois, and that thefts included an electric scooter stolen on the Heuston to Portlaoise line and a wallet taken from a bag at Tullamore Station in Offaly.
The incidents coincided with a doubling of passenger numbers as rail use on trains and Dart services in Dublin returned after the Covid-19 pandemic. Irish Bus and Rail Union rep Dermot O’Leary last night claimed the ongoing problems will persist until a dedicated Garda transport unit is created.
He said: “We have been calling for a while for a dedicated Garda transport unit. The problems won’t go away until people realise that there are going to be sanctions and court appearances.”
Iarnrod Eireann spokesperson Mr Kenny yesterday said that Irish Rail has established 12 rapid response hubs with gardai along its network, so staff can contact gardai directly if problems arise. He said: “We are putting a lot of effort in to record it and we’re working with gardai.”
Gardai yesterday said that the force did not have a dedicated unit on the cards for the rail network. A spokesperson said: “An Garda Siochana is not considering the establishment of a transport police unit at the moment.”
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