There was first class accommodation on the Sligo line up until 1994 at least - I used to regularly pay the £3 one way supplement on a student fare and get dirty looks from the 2 or 3 suits using it as they expected me to have a row with the ticket collector and leave given I was a grubby student at the time. I didn't really use the train regularly between 1995 and 2003 so I couldn't swear as to when it went away.
I think the steward disappeared somewhere around 1990. The accommodation was a lot better than standard at the time. There was a half car of 2+1 seating with a rather dirty carpet - the main benefit was the relativel level of silence due to the carpet and the lack of rows over games of 25, etc that went on at the time. Once the steward went, there wasn't much point in having it as the ticket collector would rarely get up as far as that car on the (1815 it was then) Friday evening service before Longford so you quite often didn't have to pay at all - let alone pay the extra. I am sure there might have been the odd student who used to buy a single from Sidney Parade into Connolly and take their chance with having to buy the fare on the train but that kind of dishonesty would have never crossed my mind.
I had a hot breakfast on a Sligo train in first class somewhere around 1992 - I can't be exactly sure when but I remember getting a rather posh-looking shiny teapot and tray brought to my table. It was nice but not terribly worth the £12 or so they charged at the time. I only did it once.
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