Re: Re: Irish Rail proposes Heuston to Connolly tunnel link
@mickeydocs wrote:
I think you missed my point. I take the train everyday over my car because I believe that if we are to champion a solution we should use the solution.
Very few people base their decision to choose a method of transport on environmental or safety grounds. Nearly everyone is concerned with cost and convenience. I can dig up a UK survey showing this if you really want. This is why carfree day failed spectacularly.
@mickeydocs wrote:
Traffic in Dublin/Cork/Limerick/Waterford…etc, etc is a nightmare. We are over-reliant on the car. Enough of the clichés. My point was that if reliability is the reason why people returned to using the cars then we have a very difficult battle on our hands getting the Irish commuter public to use trains.
Yes, it’s very important for Irish Rail to improve reliability and publish targets and performance and outsource the bits they can’t manage themselves.
The Luas was a very expensive joke. I do not want to see another cent spent by these buffoons. This will be a case of throwing more good money…
Luas cost 31million per km. This was close to the original tendered contract price as distinct from estimates bandied about before the routes were even chosen. By western international standards this was high but not off the scale – Strasbourg and Rouen paid about the same for their light rail systems. During the public consultation and appeals periods land and wage costs increased enormously. It is early days to judge Luas yet but if it meets its passenger targets and costs close to its tender price, it will be hard to call it a failure. Those living along the lines have seen their property values increase by an amount which may well exceed the cost of the project.
1. Why not make these people accountable for the vast sums already spent. Let’s start by using capacity on the commuter trains as part of the ‘metro’ dart solution.
The Irish Rail interconnector plan involves increasing greatly capacity on existing lines
2. Why not insist on improving tax deductions to commuters. I previously lived in Belgium, where I commuted 100Km each morning. My monthly train ticket cost 40 euros and included metro, light rail, bus and commuter rail!!!!!!!!!!
Annual commuter tickets are fully tax deductible. I agree that subsidising fares is a good way of attracting people away from cars.
3. Why not put regional development back on the agenda. Why do people living in Drogheda or Kildare have to travel to Dublin. Why does the government not actively promote Drogheda as a good location for fdi?
The National Spatial Strategy and decentralisation attempt to do this. IDA Ireland is tasked with trying to get FDI away from Dublin:
http://www.idaireland.com/uploads/reports/Annual_report_03/fdi_contribution.html
I expect these initiatives to fail. It would make more sense to develop Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick.
