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Gardai have arrested two train vandals who smashed windows on a train packed with commuters this morning.

The men were aboard the Dublin-bound train from Longford when they smashed the windows and pulled the emergency handles close to Leixlip.

The train automatically halted 200 metres outside Leixlip station.

When the driver attempted to restart the train, the vandals pulled the emergency handles again.

They used the steel-tipped emergency hammer in their carriage to smash the carriage windows.

When they became aware that gardai had been called, two of the vandals escaped and ran down the train tracks. Gardai chased them, and train services were suspended.

It is understood the vandals were under the influence of drugs.

A spokesperson for Iarnrod Eireann said two vandals were eventually apprehended by gardai and arrested.

"The line re-opened just before 8am."

"Two people got off the train and went on the track, and gardai were in pursuit."

"It appears that when the train stopped, they got off the train when they were aware that gardai were on the way."

Trains between Clonsilla and Lexilip are now suspended and Dublin Bus are accepting tickets for Iarnrod Eireann.

"Between the offenders and the gardai, there are a lot of people on the tracks."

The incident delayed passengers on the 05.40 train from Longford for more than 40 minutes.

The spokesperson confirmed: “A group of three people on board had been pulling the emergency handles which controls the brakes and makes them apply automatically.”

“The driver was attempting to reset the brakes but they started pulling the emergency handle again.”

"The brakes apply automatically because obviously they're there for safety reasons," he said.

“They have broken some windows as well,” he confirmed. “Gardai are there at this stage.”

Irish Independent