A baby girl that was born on an Irish train has been given 25 years worth of free rail travel.

The unscheduled arrival happened on the 15:05 local time service from Galway to Dublin on Tuesday.

A doctor and two nurses who were on the train at the time, helped to deliver the baby on board.

The mother and newborn were taken to hospital after arriving in Dublin and are both doing well.

Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) said that they would provide free transport to the child “throughout her childhood and up to age 25” due to the unique circumstances of her birth.

Calling all medics…

One of the train’s catering staff told Irish National Broadcaster RTÉ she knew something was happening when she heard a woman screaming in the toilet.

Emma Tote said she pushed the door open and saw a young woman inside who said she was in labour.

Ms Tote then informed the driver, called an ambulance and asked for passengers who were medics to come forward and assist.

Those that came forward included Dr Alan Devine, a GP based in Galway.

He said he noticed something was happening when the train had stopped at Kildare train station for about ten minutes, shortly before he found out a woman was in labour.

‘Totally chaotic’

Dr Devine told RTÉ he was “late on the scene” and that the woman was in good hands of two nurses by the time he got to the carriage.

“They were running the show,” he added.

Dr Devine said he was “there to catch the baby when it came out” 20 minutes later.

He said he would be “far removed from dealing with this kind of situation” and that he would have assisted with births while training to be a doctor.

“It would have been in the hospital and totally guided by the midwives and everything in a nice sterile environment, as you can imagine.

“Whereas this was totally chaotic and it was just, ‘this is happening whether we like it or not, so let’s just do the best we can’.”

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said: “We are delighted, and grateful to both customers and staff who assisted, that the mother safely gave birth to her baby daughter on board.”

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