So, last night I was on the 6:15 departing Pearse Station heading for my stop in Skerries. At about 6:30 we pulled into Howth Junction and the driver came on with an announcement. 'The causeway at Malahide estuary has collapsed, this train terminates here and there will be no further trains'. Everyone chuckled, and I managed to find two other Skerries-bound passengers to share a €40 taxi home.
The seriousness of it only came to light when I got home and checked out the news on RTE. Apparently, a train driver heading south over the estuary at 6:20 noticed the track starting to collapse under his train. He managed to cross and stopped at Malahide to raise the alarm. My train, with me in the first carriage, would have been the next over the causeway had the other driver not noticed the problem. Now pictures have appeared on news sites, and it looks very, very serious indeed. Any train passing over that would have ended up in the drink.
Now the news indicates that it will take 3 months to repair, and of course I have absolutely no faith in Irish Rail to provide alternative commuting arrangements for any commuter north of Malahide. Stay tuned.
