Photo taken on Aug. 3, 2018 shows people drinking outside a bar in downtown Dublin. Irish Rail announced on Friday to extend alcohol bank on more train services following the recent approval of a bill by the Irish parliament to curb excessive drinking in the country. (Xinhua)

DUBLIN, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Irish Rail announced on Friday to extend alcohol ban on more train services following the recent approval of a bill by the Irish parliament to curb excessive drinking in the country.

The state-owned national railway network operator said that staring from next Friday, October 12, alcohol will be banned on five Friday train services running from the country's capital Dublin to two western cities of Galway and Westport and one southern city of Waterford.

The five train services affected by the ban involve three from Dublin to Galway between 11:25 am to 15:35 pm, one from Dublin to Waterford at 13:25 pm and another from Dublin to Westport at 2:45 pm, said the company.

Passengers taking the above-mentioned five train services are not allowed to drink alcohol on board and those who have brought alcohol on board will have it confiscated or they will be barred from boarding the train, it said, adding that no alcohol will be sold on these services.

People will be informed about the ban on these services at railway stations or when they book tickets online, said the company.

Prior to this, Irish Rail has already banned alcohol on a number of other services including those running from Galway and Waterford to Dublin on Sundays.

The extension of the ban is made in response to "persistent complaints from customers about regular instances of anti-social behaviour connected to excessive alcohol consumption on board", said a spokeswoman of Irish Rail.

Earlier on Wednesday night, the lower house of the Irish parliament eventually passed a bill which was first introduced some 1,000 days ago to tackle the alcohol-related problems in the country.

Under the new legislation, a minimum pricing for per unit of alcohol and labelling of cancer warnings on alcohol products will be introduced and alcohol advertising will be restricted.

Irish Health Minister Simon Harris said that the new legislation is a positive achievement for the well-being of the the entire country and will help change the drinking culture in Ireland.

Ireland has a high rate of alcohol consumption which has led to a high level of alcohol-related harm in the country.

The Irish government intends to reduce the country's alcohol consumption for people aged above 15 from the 2016 level of 11.46 litres per person per annum to 9.1 litres by 2020.