"Owenacurra" - Diesel Railtour

Saturday 9th May 2026

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland is delighted to announce the "Owenacurra" Diesel Railtour.

The tour will depart from Dublin Heuston at 09:35 with our Big GM 071 Class loco immediately powering off from the capital as it makes its climb out of Dublin. This journey will recreate the journey from the 70s, 80s & 90s as you travel on our 1960s built carriages which have been beautfully restored and maintained by our volunteers and are hauled by an 1976 built 071 class locomotive.

The journey out of Dublin will be a fast one along the mainline, passing through The Curragh of Kildare and then for a pickup at Kildare (10:10) and Portarlington (10:25).

We will then continue along the mainline to Cork with photo stops at Ballybrophy, Limerick Junction and Mallow.

We have requested to arrive into Cork on the new platform 6, at 13:00. Passengers can choose to alight at Cork for a longer break of 3 hours or continue on the train to Midleton.

After Cork, we will be heading further onwards to Glounthaune where we will branch left onto the Midleton branch. We will see the works underway to double the track into Midleton before reaching the end of the line at Midleton.
This will give participants the very rare opportunity to travel to Midleton on a locomotive hauled train. This has only happened a handful of times since the line reopened.
All passengers must alight at Midleton station for the 25 minutes we are there. Our train will shunt to the siding. Then a spare locomotive (201 class) will attach to the train and we will depart from the East Cork town of Midleton crossing the River Owenacurra, the namesake for our tour today.
We will then retrace our steps, firstly back to Kent station. We will have from 15:01 to 16:05 for a brief break. Our 071 class loco will take over again, as we make the big climb out of Cork and onwards to the capital. We will have set down stops at Portarlington (18:05), Kildare (18:20) and terminate at Dublin Heuston for 19:00.

The train will be made up of our Cravens coaching stock complete with usual facilities of snack car serving a variety of hot and cold items throughout the day alongside our renowned bar car with draught and bottled beverages available all day. We now accept debit / credit cards on board as well as cash payments.

Route & Timings:

09:35 Dublin Heuston - 10:10 Kildare - 10:25 Portarlington - Ballybrophy - Limerick Junction - 13:01 / 13:35 Cork - Glounthane - 14:01 / 14:25 Midleton - 15:01 / 16:05 Cork - 18:05 Portarlington - 18:20 Kildare - Dublin Heuston arrive 19:00.

Requested haulage - IÉ 071 Class locomotive hauling the RPSI Cravens carriages. *201 class hauled between Midleton and Cork.

N.B. IMPORTANT INFORMATION RE: ONLINE TICKETS

Tickets are NON-REFUNDABLE once purchased.

If travelling as part of a group - you MUST make one booking to be seated together. Seating requests cannot be made after.

You will receive your tickets by email as soon as your booking goes through. These are you tickets which you must print off or have QR code available for inspection on the day.

Seating allocations will be emailed, no later than 2 days before departure. Please check your emails.

Children aged 2 and under can travel free of charge on their parent's lap.

Child Tickets are valid for 3 - 18 year old's inclusive.

We have seats for sale in the carriage opposite the guards van and in the bar carriage for the day. Please note that these are ONLY available as adult tickets.

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Host or Publisher Railway Preservation Society of Ireland