By Train in The Southwest

From Dublin Heuston Station the region is served by three direct rail links, to Limerick City, Tralee (via Killarney), and Cork City. Journey time from Dublin to Limerick is 2½ hours; to Cork, 2¾ hours; to Tralee, 3¾ hours.

The rail network, which covers only the inner ring of the region, is mainly useful for moving from one touring base to another. On the Dublin-Cork line there is an hourly service in each direction between 7 AM and 9 PM, and nine trains a day from Dublin to Tralee (most of which involve one change at Mallow). There are currently five trains a day from Cork to Tralee, but this is scheduled to improve in 2009. The journey from Cork to Tralee takes about 2 hours; from Cork to Limerick, about 1¼ hours; from Limerick to Tralee, about 3 hours.

A suburban rail service runs up to four times hourly from Kent Station and has stops at Fota Island and Cobh and offers better Cork Harbour views than the road.

Train Information

Irish Rail-Iarnod Éireann (www.irishrail.ie). Dublin Heuston Station (01/836-6222). Inquiries (061/315-555 in Limerick; 021/450-6766 in Cork; 066/712-3522 in Tralee). Kent Station (021/450-6766 for timetable).