There were an estimated 470,000 passenger journeys that began or ended at Mullingar train station according to the annual National Rail Census published on Monday, 1 July.
The study analyses the number of people boarding and alighting at each train station nationwide on a single day of the year. This year’s study was undertaken on 9 November 2023. Iarnród Éireann services do not operate on 25 and 26 December.
1,304 passenger journeys were recorded at Mullingar train station on census day. 627 boarded at Mullingar and 677 alighted at the station. 97 of those who boarded were on the north-bound train while the remaining 530 were on the south-bound train. 552 who alighted at Mullingar were on the north-bound train while the remaining 125 were headed south. Using these figures, an estimated 227,601 people boarded at Mullingar while 245,751 alighted at the station for a total of 473,352 passenger journeys.
This is a 16% increase from the estimated 407,286 boardings and alignments in 2022 when 1,122 total journeys were recorded on the day of the survey. 726 journeys were recorded in 2021 for an annual estimate of 263,538 while no survey was conducted in 2020 due to Covid. 1,192 journeys were recorded in 2019 for an annual estimate of 432,696.
There were 178,262 passenger journeys nationwide on census day, a 12% increase from 2022. Iarnród Éireann reported 45.5m journeys in 2023, an increase of 27% compared to 2022 when 35.8m journeys were recorded. Amárach Research carried out the census on behalf of the National Transport Authority (NTA). This was the 11th national census and the NTA said the following about the report:
“It is not intended to represent an accurate picture of overall rail service usage, which instead is recorded in Iarnród Éireann’s annual patronage data. Though the rail census data is subject to variation each year based on factors like operating conditions, weather, and service delays, it is nonetheless a useful barometer of trends over time.”
