Delays were caused to Iarnrod Eireann’s train services in recent days due to the presence of cows on railway tracks.

Taking to Twitter earlier today (Wednesday, January 9), Iarnrod Eireann announced the delays and its cause in a tweet, saying:

“07.05 Waterford to Heuston service – expect delays due to a cow on the line. We are responding accordingly to get the line cleared as soon as possible.”

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This followed on from a similar incident yesterday in Co. Meath when a number of cattle on tracks caused delays to the Sligo to Connolly Station route in both directions.

Early trains from Sligo, the 5:40am service, and Connolly Station, the 6:55am service, were affected by the roaming bovines, according to the rail company.

Thankfully, the cattle were soon cleared from the line and services resumed some 30 minutes later.

In typical Twitter fashion, a number of Twitter users poked fun at the topic, asking if the cows were “mooved”, with Iarnrod Eireann proving game to the jokes, replying that it was not sure the cow “herd” them.

Athlone rail incident

Fortunately, the livestock were spotted in time and herded to safety before the trains arrived in recent days.

This was not the case in an incident back in November, when a train hit a number of cows near Athlone, which led to long delays.

“Significant delays” were caused to Galway/Westport services in both directions as a result, with the original train just under an hour late, while subsequent trains were held up by about 40 minutes.