Irish Rail has claimed that it can't afford a 3 per cent pay hike for workers and is warning it may have to cut routes in a bid to save money.
They say that over €17 million could be raised by closing railway lines through Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Clare and Galway.
Fianna Fail Councillor Eddie Mulligan says it's a ridiculous decision, and that cross country services need investment.
"We don't even have a proper national connection, from East to West, connecting Waterford to Limerick by motorway," he says. "If anything we should be looking at how we improve that (rail service) how we make it more efficient, how we make it more competitive."
He says that the under-resourced service has led to apathy from the wider public.
"The Waterford to Limerick railway line was not reliable, it worked at hours that were not suitable to the average commuter and more often than not the scheduled service was cancelled to go by bus."
