Iarnród Éireann or
Irish Rail is the operator of the national railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of
Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal
InterCity,
Commuter,
DART and
freight railway services in the Republic of Ireland, and, jointly with
Northern Ireland Railways, the
Enterprise service between
Dublin and
Belfast. In 2015, IÉ carried 39.8 million passengers, up from 37.8 million in 2014. Until 2013 Ireland was the only
European Union state that had not implemented
EU Directive 91/440 and related legislation, having
derogated its obligation to split train operations and infrastructure businesses, and allow
open access by private companies to the rail network. A consultation on the restructuring of Iarnród Éireann took place in 2012. The derogation ended on 14 March 2013 when the company was split in 2 sectors: Railway Undertaking and Infrastructure Manager.