Investigations are underway after a crack was discovered in the chassis of a high-speed Irish Rail locomotive which had been in service on Cork-Dublin route.
Locomotive 224, which had been operating on the 2.25 pm Cork to Heuston Station route, was taken out of service at Limerick Junction after a fuel leak was found on July 6.
Customers were transferred to a replacement train to complete the rest of their journey.
224 was then hauled to Heuston Station for repairs later that day.
On July 7, a crack was discovered by the driver while it was being prepared for transfer to Inchicore for further investigation of the fuel leak.
Locomotive 224 is one of Irish Rail's 23 201 class fleet. They have been in operation since 1994.
They are the newest and most powerful diesel locomotives operating in Ireland and have a maximum speed of 164 km/h.
An investigation immediately followed as all of the 201 locomotive fleet was inspected within 24 hours and it was confirmed that only locomotive 224 was affected.
Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said: "Iarnród Éireann is investigating the incident, and has also notified both the Commission for Railway Regulation, and the Railway Accident Investigation Unit, and the RAIU has confirmed that it will also be undertaking an independent investigation."
