A BANDON-born Senator fed up that there is no catering trolley service aboard the Sligo to Dublin train route went viral after she released a video of herself walking down the aisle with a makeshift snack cart offering snacks and water to bemused commuters.

Labour Senator Nessa Cosgrove, who hails from Castlelack outside Bandon but now lives in Sligo, was elected to the Seanad earlier this year on her very first outing, having served as a councillor in Sligo.

As a regular commuter on the Sligo to Dublin route, Sen Cosgrove has been very vocal about fact that one of the network’s longest train routes hasn’t had a catering trolley service in place since the pandemic. She has raised the issue several times in the Seanad as well as starting a petition in  May.

Speaking to The Southern Star,  Sen Cosgrove said the reaction to her video has been unbelievable and is surprised it took off so much.

'I think it really resonated with people because it's a real issue, It just goes to show that people value public service and it should be a public service obligation,' said Nessa.

She said making the video was direct action on her part and she feels it actually worked and is overwhelmed by the response.

'This also highlights unbalanced regional development especially in the North West where people have to travel far to access health services and that's very clear from meeting people when I'm on the train.

She released a video showing her walking down the aisle of a train complete with her own homemade decorated usherette tray with snacks and proceeded to hand out bottles of waters and crisps free of charge to her fellow commuters.

‘If they’re not going to provide a catering service then we will have to do it ourselves. The catering service returned on other routes but not here. We need it back and it’s a basic service and people need to be able to buy water, tea and food,' she said in the video.

Speaking also at a recent Joint Oireachtas Transport Committee she said it has become a ‘public safety’ issue as people don’t have access to water.

‘People are getting on this train and they could be sitting there for almost four hours with no access to water or anything and it’s not acceptable,’ she said.

‘We need a concrete answer as to when some basic facilities will return on this service.’

In response she was told that no funding is currently available to reinstate the catering service on that particular route, despite the fact that the service has returned on both the Cork to Dublin service and Cork to Belfast services.