Meathwoman's Diary: The random joy of conversations with strangers on a train

A LONG morning of travelling lay ahead of me last weekend as I headed from Drogheda to Limerick for a family occasion. Having boarded the 7.05am train to Connolly before most sensible people were even contemplating getting out of bed, I knew exactly what I wanted from the next leg of my journey from Heuston to Limerick Junction — peace and quiet.

So when the option of the “quiet coach” appeared while booking my ticket, I selected it immediately.

This was going to be bliss. EarPods fully charged. Phone at one hundred percent. Netflix series downloaded. Minimal human interaction. Perfect.

Ironically, the quiet coach turned out to be anything but.

I found my allocated seat, one of four around a table, where another passenger was already attempting to negotiate a rather sizeable suitcase into the overhead compartment. Between the two of us, we eventually managed to hoist it up successfully.

As it turned out, my fellow passenger was travelling to Cork before beginning a charity cycle from Mizen Head to Malin Head. Naturally, this made my own achievement of making the 7.05am train pale slightly in comparison.

Over the next while I heard about cycling adventures she had undertaken around the world and the various places her bike had carried her over the years. Meanwhile, I was feeling proud of myself for remembering to pack a phone charger.

Soon afterwards, two older ladies — sisters — took the seats opposite us. There was a slight moment of panic when one of them failed to return from the restroom and her sibling began fearing she had somehow vanished between Portlaoise and Thurles. Thankfully, she reappeared a few minutes later accompanied by a staff member after taking a wrong turn while navigating the carriages.

The sisters were travelling to Dingle for a family occasion of their own, though they were clearly no strangers to travelling together. Regular cruise-goers, they happily filled us in on previous adventures and excitedly discussed their upcoming trip to Croatia later this year.

By this point, my Netflix series hadn’t even been opened.

It struck me how much you can still learn from random conversations on public transport — in a world where most of us rarely lift our heads from our phones long enough to make eye contact, never mind conversation.

There was something genuinely lovely about it. Three completely different lives briefly intersecting somewhere between Dublin and Tipperary.

That said, I should add one important caveat.

Attempting the same journey home the following day after celebrations was an entirely different experience. Sunglasses were firmly in place, Spotify became my travelling companion of choice and I suddenly understood the true value of the quiet coach concept.

On that occasion, I’m not entirely sure I would have welcomed quite as much chat and banter from my fellow passengers.