BEING THREATENED by a machete-wielding youngster and passengers openly snorting cocaine are among some of the more serious complaints made to Irish Rail over the past few months.
A number of alarming incidents have taken place on common travel routes and in busy carriages, with dozens of complaints lodged between January 2020 and June 2021.
In one incident, two passengers were spotted by using drugs, wracking up lines of cocaine on one of the tables seemingly without a care in the world.
In another case, a 19-year-old woman says a young boy threatened to attack her with a machete after he and two of his friends made "inappropriate sexual comments" to her.
According to the woman, one of the boys said he'd smash her head in with a bottle if she didn't talk to them.
National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) spokesman Dermot O'Leary says that hiring "dedicated transport police" for the services could help to reduce the amount of unsavoury incidents reported on trains.
"The Cork-Dublin line is like a drug route at this stage. Our members certainly know who the drug-dealers are, or the mules are most of the point, they know who’s carrying drugs," he said.
"A dedicated public transport division would help. Politicians jump up and down when things happen and I think it’s only a matter of time before something serious is going to happen unfortunately."
It must be said, that only 26 complaints were lodged over the 18 month period, highlighting that the vast majority of services thankfully take place without incident.
