Iarnrod Eireann has denied union allegations that it plans to withdraw completely from rail freight services.
However, a spokesman said that because of the closure of Irish Fertiliser Industries, one of its main freight customers, the company is urgently reviewing unprofitable freight services to achieve immediate cost savings.
Iarnrod Eireann's freight services were already predicted to return a deficit of _14 million for this year - but the closure of IFI will mean a further loss of revenue of up to _4 million. As a result, the company has instigated a review of its unprofitable freight services as a matter of urgency in order to achieve immediate cost savings.
Unions fear that the company plans to pull out of the rail freight business, and have warned that this would have a catastrophic effect on around 550 jobs, as well as worsening the traffic gridlock problem nationwide.
However, Iarnrod Eireann spokesperson Barry Kenny said there was no question of withdrawing from profitable freight services.
He also said that there were no plans to sell Rosslare Europort - a profit-making arm of the company - and that no decision had been made on closing key rail lines between Limerick and Rosslare.
He said that if unprofitable areas were axed around 250 jobs could be affected, but added that these would be dealt with through voluntary severance and redeployment.
