Recent incidents of anti-social behaviour have been reported on Cork train services, including reports of homophobia, sexism and racism.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) received 119 reported cases of anti-social behaviour on trains within, to and from Cork from August 2025 to August 2026. 87% of the complaints, which included mentions of homophobia, intimidation, assault, racism, sexism, alcohol and drug use, occurred on the Dublin to Cork service.

One report stated that throughout a journey from Dublin Heuston to Cork Kent, “a number of passengers spewed homophobic comments while drinking heavily between carriages.”

The report continued, “This made myself and my partner feel very unsafe as a lesbian couple”.

A number of reports stated similar issues regarding racism, with workers being harassed, threatened with bodily harm, or racist stickers being plastered on surfaces within the train. A report concerning the safety of staff on the train services stated that a passenger said “two jabs and that will do them, and we can just f*ck them off the train”.

Other harmful language has been reported as well as a number of assaults, with one person stating they were “asked for money and then spat on”. There was also reported to be an overall lack of enforcement from Iarnród Éireann’s security staff.

General Secretary of the National Bus and Rail Union (NRBU), Dermot O’Leary, said the Cork to Dublin train service has been a “hot spot” for anti-social behaviour for a number of years. 

In a statement regarding this behaviour, he said, “The people working on the train know full well the particular times of day and stops that are problematic, they know exactly where the flashpoints are.” 

He further stated that abuse, assault and threats of bodily harm have made many staff aboard the trains leave, or consider leaving their employment, due to concerns of personal physical and mental wellbeing. This becomes especially worse when repeat offenders begin to recognise members of staff. 

While complaints that train service staff are not enforcing rules sufficiently have been reported, O’Leary stated, “People who work on trains are by and large customer service people… they’re not security, and they’re definitely not police.”

He continued, “The company have done their best with security personnel, but they don’t have powers of detention and arrest.”

The General Secretary concluded, stating that the NRBU has been calling for a dedicated public transport policing presence to combat the rising levels of anti-social behaviour. However, the government plan for this security force “will take multiple years”, whereas a Garda resource focused on public transport “would be much faster to implement.”