Hopes of a breakthrough in talks to allow ammonia trains to renew deliveries to the Irish Fertilizer Industries (IFI) plant in Arklow were raised last night following discussions between IFI shop stewards and the unions representing train drivers.
However, it is expected to be another 48 hours before the first trains can deliver supplies.
The shop stewards had separate meetings with Iarnrod Eireann, SIPTU, the National Bus and Railworkers Union and the Irish Locomotive Drivers Association's (ILDA) yesterday to find a formula to allow deliveries to resume.
Almost 200 workers at the plant were laid off last Friday because of the ILDA recognition dispute with Iarnrod Eireann.
Meanwhile, there were renewed fears last night that the ILDA might extend its "bucket collections" to Dublin Bus depots tomorrow. If significant numbers of drivers refused to pass the collectors, services could be disrupted. However, similar reports last week proved unfounded.
Services for train passengers today will be normal on the DART, Maynooth and Arklow suburban lines and on the Dublin-Belfast and Dublin-Rosslare routes. There will be a two-thirds service on the Drogheda and Dundalk suburban service.
