Iarnród Éireann has urged anyone with information about graffiti vandals who carried out a "co-ordinated and deliberate attack" on a DART train in north Dublin last night to come forward.
Corporate Communications Manager Barry Kenny said that at least a dozen vandals, wearing balaclavas, attacked the DART as it arrived at Clongriffin, at around 10.40pm yesterday.
He said the group prevented the doors from closing and effectively destroyed the exterior of the carriage.
Mr Kenny said the group then got into an altercation with a separate group of graffiti vandals.
He added that customers were also threatened with pieces of wood.
The group ran off after gardaí were called.
It was, Mr Kenny said, an unprecedented attack on an in-service train and will cost thousands of euro to repair.
So far this year, he said, over €120,000 has been spent on repairing damage by graffiti vandals.
He said additional security is being deployed, pending a full review of events, and Iarnród Éireann is working with gardaí investigating the attack.
The train continued its journey to Malahide before it was taken out of service.
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Iarnród Éireann said there have been 62 graffiti attacks on trains this year - a 30% increase compared to last year.
It said it has a zero tolerance to such attacks.
