Iarnod Éireann has said significant delays to trains in and out of Heuston station are easing after the attempted theft of signalling equipment disrupted thousands of passengers this morning.
A worker disrupted thieves attempting to steal 300 metres of cable from the train services signalling system on the line between Newbridge and Kildare overnight.
The cable had already been cut and was badly damaged. Repairs worth €4,000 had to be carried out this morning.
The disruption led to delays of up to an hour and a half on all trains in and out of the station from early this morning.
The train service said the delays are expected to ease further throughout the day.
Update: Delays to services to and from Heuston have now eased following earlier signalling issues due to vandalism https://t.co/uMf5tyUV66
— Iarnród Éireann (@IrishRail) October 9, 2019
The attempted theft has been reported to Gardaí who have carried out searches at the site.
They are warning that the cable that the thieves were trying to steal carries high-voltage electricity, which can cause serious injury if tampered with.
Spokesperson Jane Cregan apologised to everyone affected by "this vandalism overnight."
She said it is not the first time the train service has been targeted by thieves on the tracks.
"We work closely with Gardaí and other infrastructure providers who also would have cable within their network to try and minimise the incidences of this happening," she said.
"But unfortunately we have had an incident overnight."
Meanwhile, real-time departures information on the app and website were also affected and were “not accurate” this morning.
