Trains every hour and a speedy journey make this the most relaxing way to travel intercity.

My three options for travelling from Cork to Dublin return are by car, by plane or by train. The car option is obviously the most flexible, I can suit myself but its hardly the most relaxing as is at best 3.5 hours in the driving seat and means I’ll arrive more tired than I’d like and in addition, theres the ever increasing petrol cost to factor in.

Flying can be cheap but then theres the hassle of check in and all the messing about and hanging around in airports which annoys me and the added possibility of delays or cancellations which are beyond my control.

Lately I have opted for taking the train. The intercity timetable is excellent now. Trains leave Cork very regularly, usually on the half past hour. In the opposite direction, they leave on the hour, every hour from 7am till 9pm. The journey takes just less than 3 hours.

You can now reserve your seat online. The trains I have been on over the past couple of months have been clean and modern. Plenty of legroom, stowage space and drop down tables. Comfortable seats and clean modern bathrooms.

The catering onboard the train is not great. The best that can be said for “cafe noir” coffee is that its hot. It tastes pretty gross. On my last journey, the mobile catering trolley wasn’t available so everyone had to make their way to the catering carriage.As result there ended up being a big queue. It was badly stocked, no sandwiches or anything substantial to eat available, just cold drinks, tea, coffee, chocolate, muffins or crisps.

The facilities in Cork’s Kent station are also very basic. The kiosk there also sells brutal coffee and had ran out of newspapers the last time I visited. Unfortunately there arent any other shops near Kent station so the choice is very limited to using this kiosk unless you have plenty of time to spare before your train departure.

In contrast Heuston station has a good range of food outlets with Supermacs, coffee shops, confectionary, newsagents, Easons book shop etc.  

The return ticket costs €61 which isn’t cheap but after 3 hours sitting relaxing, reading my book and listening to my music I arrive in Dublin refreshed and chilled out.

Rated 3/5 on Sep 30 2007 by ManicMammy
Review Tags: cork, dublin, intercity, rail, track, train, transport, travel
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