An unusually stressful trip which saw a baby born on the train from Ceannt to Heuston has worked out well for the girl as she will be travelling free for the next 25 years.
A young woman was forced to give birth on the Galway-Dublin train at Kildare on Tuesday with the help of several passengers on board.
Kids under five normally travel free, but a spokesperson for Irish Rail said that this particular will be able to get the train for free until she’s 25.
The surprise birth happened at around 5pm on the 3:05 service from Ceannt to Heuston station.
Staff quickly located the help of two nurses and an older American woman, who were joined by Donegal GP Alan Devine.
Dr Devine said that he was on his way to a medical conference in Dublin and was watching Chernobyl on his iPad when the woman next to him asked if he was a doctor.
The GP added that it “wasn’t really my field at all” and that he hadn’t practiced delivering a child since his medical training, but went ahead to help the nurses anyway.
One of the nurses was newly qualified Ellen Kennedy who works at UHG. She said they helped, but that it was the mum who did all the hard work.
The baby girl was delivered safe and healthy aboard the train at Kildare Station after an 80 minute wait.
The mum and her newborn daughter were brought by ambulance to Coombe Hospital almost immediately after.
