Advance booking will be mandatory on all inter-city and Christmas rail services as capacity is halved due to Covid-19, Irish Rail has said.
Pre-booking will be required on services from Friday, December 18th to Wednesday, January 6th. Passengers using free travel passes and season tickets will also need to book in advance.
The measures coincide with the relaxation of Covid-19 travel rules, which will permit inter-county travel for the first time in up to three months.
Rail services will be running at 50 per cent capacity in line with rules for all public transport.
Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny asked the public to “only travel if your journey is necessary, and avoid peak and busier times if at all possible”.
“Holders of existing tickets, such as open returns, season tickets and Department of Social Protection free travel can also pre-book their Intercity reservations during these dates at no charge via irishrail.ie or at 1850366222”.
“Seating will be unassigned, and customers are asked not to sit in seating designated as restricted, to ensure appropriate distancing”, Mr Kenny said.
