Last week, I took the train from Dublin to Kerry. Honestly, I couldn’t tell you the last time I was on the train, it was well before the pandemic anyway. With two small kids, it’s easier to pack up the car with all the paraphernalia from buggies to bikes.

My mother on the other hand will often take the train and always has a story about a character she was chatting to in the carriage. So there I was, coffee in hand with a good four hour journey ahead of me. Surely there was plenty of potential here for a good editorial.

Alas, dear reader, I got all the ways to Killarney and the only person I chatted to was the lady serving the tea. Unbeknownst to me, I had sat in the silent carriage (strictly no phones, no chat) so there wasn’t a good story to be found.

On the way back, I assumed another quiet journey ahead of me so I took out the paper. With the Journal in front of me suddenly, the conversion started to flow.

Two lovely women told me they were up since the crack of dawn. They drove the 20 minutes to Thurles station that morning and, together they caught the train to Killarney, did a bit of shopping in the outlet, enjoyed some lunch in town and walked back to the station for the train home. They hadn’t seen each other in the run up to Christmas and this was their festive catch up.

When they got the free travel at 66, they promised each other they would use it and said that sometimes they get the train to Dublin to catch the matinee in the Bord Gáis theatre and back home again. Talk about a new lease of life.

When they got the free travel at 66, they promised each other they would use it and said that sometimes they get the train to Dublin to catch the matinee in the Bord Gáis theatre and back home again. Talk about a new lease of life.

Further up the tracks, I chatted to a couple from Kildare who were on an overnight away. They had gotten the train to Charleville, disembarked and hopped on the Local Link bus to visit their friend in Doneraile. They had no interest in driving during the icy, cold weather. The bus arrived on time, was warm and comfortable and if it wasn’t for their free travel and the Local Link, their friend who sadly was recently widowed would have been sitting at home on her own during the dark days of January. Instead, they all had a lovely catch up.

Stories

These are the kind of stories behind Local Link that brings it alive. In fact, last year was the busiest year ever for Local Link with 3.2 million passengers, a 78% increase on the 1.8 million passenger journeys in 2022.

This jump in numbers is linked to the significant increase in routes in 2023. Over 60 new and enhanced services are now benefitting communities along the Ring of Kerry, those on route from Athboy to Drogheda and in and around the townlands of Clonmel and Carlow, to name just a few. It’s not just people using it to go a few miles into town to run some errands. Young people are travelling to college, families are getting by on one car instead of two by using it for work, and more and more people, are using it to connect to regional trains and bus routes. In fact, just as I finished writing this piece, Ciaran Mullooly’s column arrived in my inbox. Without planning, he too is singing the praises of his local bus service. It’s something we would like to cover more of in Irish Country Living and I’d love to hear how it has benefitted your local community or indeed, your own commute or lifestyle.

Certainly, my new friends from Kildare assure me that their pal in Doneraile puts on a fine spread, and she’ll be sick of them visiting now.