Urgent safety warning for Iarnród Éireann after near-misses on railway tracks

Seán McCárthaigh

A railway safety watchdog has issued an urgent safety advice notice to Iarnród Éireann over concern that the company appears to be accepting “a certain element of risk” over staff patrolling railway tracks.

The warning comes after a series of near misses between trains and Iarnród Éireann employees working on railway lines over the past three years.

The Railway Accident Investigation Unit has recommended that immediate action should be taken to protect workers accessing train lines as a safe system of work cannot be achieved for staff working alone without a lookout on almost 50 per cent of the rail network.

The recommendations include a call for an immediate cessation of all staff patrolling track on their own where minimum sighting distances – the distance at which an approaching train must be visible to allow a track worker sufficient time to reach a position of safety – cannot be met.

The RAIU said it had concluded that Iarnród Éireann was not fully discharging its duties under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and the Railway Safety Act 2005.

It revealed that there have been eight reported near misses between trains and Iarnród Éireann staff between February 2023 and November 2025.

The workers were carrying out various activities, including track patrolling, infrastructure inspections and fault rectification.

Although no injuries were reported as a result of these incidents, the RAIU said they “pose a serious risk to members of staff on the railway who could be hit by trains, causing injuries or fatalities.”

The minimum sighting distances were not achievable in three incidents which meant staff were “in a position of danger for some part of their patrol lengths.”

The RAIU revealed that almost 10 per cent of the rail network has quarter-mile sections classified as “very high risk” and a further 37 per cent as “high risk” in terms of the main hazards of sighting distance, availability of safe positions and train frequency.

The RAIU noted that following an investigation into another near miss incident at Woodlawn, Co Galway in June 2019 that it had concluded that Iarnród Éireann appeared to have “over a long period of time accepted a certain element of risk in relation to track patrolling given that known dangers are not being adequately mitigated by patrol gangers or their managers.”

It added: “This appears to continue to be the case.”

The RAIU said Iarnród Éireann had not reduced risks to a level “as low as reasonably practicable” given it had accepted an avoidable level of risk to track patrolling and had failed “to provide a place of work that is safe and without risk to health.”

It also claimed the company had failed to adequately control and mitigate known hazards associated with track patrolling.

The Iarnród Éireann rule book stipulates that staff can work on their own provided they remain sufficiently alert for the approach of trains and can reach a position of safety at least 10 seconds before a train arrives, otherwise the section of line must be blocked to all movements.

In one incident, a patrol ganger working on the Portarlington-Athlone line at Clonnydonnin, Co Westmeath on October 9th, 2023 managed to step clear just before a train passed at 126 km/h in heavy fog conditions.

On the same line near Clonygowan, Co Offaly on November 24th, 2025, another worker walking on the track had their back to a train approaching at 127km/h and only moved clear with less than 3 seconds to spare.

In another incident, a patrol ganger bending down to inspect the railway on the Dublin-Belfast line at Ardgillan, Co Dublin on February 27th, 2023 moved away 2-3 seconds before a train passed him at 145km/h after the train driver sounded the horn.

A report by the RAIU noted that Iarnród Éireann had put in place a trackworker safety improvement programme following a number of near misses involving its staff which has a steering committee which meets regularly to oversee and further develop safety improvements.

A special app for staff working alone will be fully rolled out in the first half of 2026, while all track patrolling on the DART line now takes place at nighttime when tracks are taken fully out of service after it was identified as “a high-risk environment.”

There has also been a move towards bi-weekly patrolling which reduces the amount of time and associated risk inspecting track, while Iarnród Éireann has also spent €10 million on improvements designed to reduce the need to walk on railway lines.

In addition, the company started a strategy to use drones for track inspections last year, while there has also been a move to staff working on a line wearing “full orange” high visibility clothing for both jackets and trousers.

Commenting on the RAIU urgent safety notice, an Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said the safety of its employees, including those working directly on the rail network were of the utmost importance and the company was committed to implementing the watchdog’s recommendations.

The spokesperson said Iarnród Éireann had already undertaken a range of initiatives with further measures due to be implemented this year “to ensure the safest possible working environment for our trackworkers.”