Irish Rail says it's not 'putting on the poor mouth' when it comes to the state of its finances.
Unions want an extra 3.75%, but the transport company has told the Labour Court it's in a 'perilous financial situation' and may need to cut four routes to stay afloat.
Routes in the firing line include Limerick to Ballybrophy and Limerick Junction to Waterford - axing them would save around €5m a year according to Irish Rail.
Closing Gorey to Rosslare would save €4.4m and halting the Ennis to Athenry route would raise €2.8m.
The lines have been listed on a submission to the Labour Court by the transport Company.
It is still unclear what exactly will happen but Irish Rail says one thing is certain - forcing it to up its wage bill would result in 'immediate financial crisis'.
The Irish Independent says it's seen the document which sets out how bad the books are and what potentially could be done about them.