Baby born on train given free rail travel for 25 years
Woman gives birth on Galway to Dublin service
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Your support makes all the difference.A baby girl born onboard a train has been offered free rail travel for the first 25 years of her life.
The birth took place on an Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) service from Galway to Dublin Heuston station at around 3.05pm on Tuesday 11 June.
The baby was delivered by two nurses and a doctor who happened to be onboard, after train staff put out a call for medical professionals.
“We are delighted, and grateful to both customers and staff who assisted, that the mother safely gave birth to her baby daughter onboard,” an Iarnród Éireann spokesperson told The Independent.
“We wish mother and baby well, and respecting her privacy would be delighted to arrange for free travel for her new daughter throughout her childhood and up to age 25.”
Train staff were first alerted to the mother’s predicament when Emma Tote, the onboard catering assistant, heard a woman screaming in the toilet and went to help.
The driver was informed, an ambulance requested and passengers with a medical background asked to make themselves known to staff.
Dr Alan Devine, a GP from Galway, was one of those who stepped forward to assist, although he said two nurses “were running the show” by the time he arrived on the scene, reports RTE.
He was “there to catch the baby when it came out” about 20 minutes later while the train was stopped at Kildare.
Both mother and baby are recovering well having been whisked to hospital after the train arrived in Dublin.
“In what must have been a very stressful situation, the response of customers and staff in both assisting and ensuring the privacy of the mother was excellent,” added Iarnród Éireann.
It’s not the first time a child born onboard a mode of transport has benefited from complimentary travel.
In June 2017, a baby born during a Jet Airways flight from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Kochi was awarded free flights for life by the airline.
Just a few weeks later, Spirit Airlines had an expected delivery on a Fort Lauderdale-Dallas service; the carrier also gifted a lifetime of gratis flights to the newborn.
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