Numbers on Rosslare-Dublin rail line surge amid overcrowding and stagnant service levels

Recent passenger statistics reveal an unprecedented surge in commuter demand along the Rosslare-Dublin rail line since 2019, exposing a disparity between passenger growth and the National Transport Authority’s continued failure to increase service frequency…

As commuters flock to public transport, they are met with overcrowded carriages, stagnant timetables, and chronic under-investment on one of the most critical routes in the South East.

Despite ongoing campaigns by South East on Track, capacity on the South Eastern rail line remains fundamentally unchanged.

The latest figures show explosive growth across all major stations on the line since 2019, the last pre-COVID year, with Gorey and Rathdrum experiencing passenger increases of over 60% between the sum of origin and destination trips. In these 6 years only one late night return trip has been added on the line.

Key Passenger Increases (origin & destination) from 2019 to 2025:

Gorey: 59,636 to 101,269 (70% increase)
Rathdrum: 37,641 to 61,747 (64% increase)
Enniscorthy: 43,320 to 68,028 (57% increase)
Arklow: 52,896 to 77,026 (46% increase)
Rosslare Strand: 23,723 to 31,044 (31% increase)
Wicklow: 85,903 to 97,053 (13% increase)
Wexford: 147,212 to 156,749 (6% increase)

While the Department of Transport continues to promote a shift toward sustainable, decarbonized travel, the infrastructure on the Rosslare-Dublin line has been left behind. Currently, large portions of the line operate on a single track, bottlenecking potential service frequency.

Furthermore, recent national timetable adjustments prioritized the Dublin-Belfast and Galway routes, leaving the South East with a woefully inadequate schedule that routinely forces commuters to stand for hours or force them back into their cars on the congested M11.

Despite a 70% surge in demand at stations like Gorey, Irish Rail has introduced no proportional increase in morning peak capacity or new rolling stock allocations for the route. The result is a daily commuter crisis.