Delays On The Dart

Sir, - I commute to and from Dublin each day by DART, and wish to share with your readers the results of a survey which I undertook…

Sir, - I commute to and from Dublin each day by DART, and wish to share with your readers the results of a survey which I undertook over a recent 10-day period.

Out of 20 trains (10 each way), only five were on time - i.e., a failure rate of 75 per cent. Where else in business would such an abysmal record be acceptable? The list of excuses given was interesting in itself: signalling failure, points failure, late arrival of incoming train, train cancelled, overhead power failure. This was a good week. There was no "shortage of drivers", which is otherwise a fairly regular announcement.

Surely it is time to hold an inquiry. - Yours, etc.,

Alan Goggins, Seafield Court, Killiney, Co Dublin.