A WELCOME RETURN: On July 31, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) ran the ‘Rockin Food Festival’ tour from Dublin Connolly to Enniscorthy. This was the first visit of steam south of Wicklow since Covid-19. GNR 4-4-0 No. 85 Merlin is seen crossing the river Slaney with a local trip to Rosslare after leaving Enniscorthy. Over 658 passengers were carried, however, on the return trip a combination of late running due to problems with the turntable at Rosslare Europort and poor steam resulted in the tour being terminated at Greystones.
FINBARR O’NEILL
DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) services were suspended for a time on July 24, when passengers selfevacuated a train just outside Bray station.
Services were exceptionally busy because of the Bray air show which was taking place for the first time after Covid-19. Spectators had been advised by the organisers and the National Transport Authority to use public transport.
Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) had put on nine extra services to supplement the existing DART timetable and it was on one of these services that the selfevacuation took place.