A cat in North County Dublin has made history by being the first animal to be issued with a rail card by Iarnród Éireann.
Lilou who, without her owner Eric Biec’s knowledge, took a trip on a DART this week, has been given her very own smartcard.
Unbeknown to Eric, Lilou had made her way to Malahide DART station and boarded the 10:30 train to Dublin City Centre.
At Pearse Street Station a passenger handed her to Iarnród Éireann staff who christened her DART. Appeals were made through Twitter and the media to find her owner. Thanks to hundreds of tweets and retweets Eric realised the cat was found, and pet and owner were reunited.
Corporate Communications Manager at Iarnród Éireann Barry Kenny says
Just in the off chance that she does travel again with us, we are going to issue her with her own smart card for the future, so that if she does decide to take the DART again she will have a valid ticket.
It appears that Lilou still knows her escape route and now that she has experienced city life, her new smart card may come in very useful.
An RTÉ News report by Ailbhe Conneely broadcast on 27 August 2010.
