Sir, - Given that four out of my last five journeys on the Belfast-Dublin line have arrived late, I wonder if both governments, North and South, and the respective rail operators have any real commitment to making public transport a viable alternative to the car.
On Friday April 26th we left Belfast at 2.10pm and the delays started with signalling problems between Belfast and Portadown. We then had cattle on the line between Portadown and Newry and speed restrictions between Drogheda and Dublin due to engineering works. We arrived in Dublin 55 minutes late.
On the return journey at 10a.m. on Sunday 28th the train was evacuated due to a fire in the engine and we had to wait for a replacement train, arriving one-and-a-half hours late.
I had a normal journey to Dublin on Tuesday April 30th. But on Thursday, May 2nd the 9.35a.m. stopped a few miles outside Dublin and sat on the line with engine failure for almost an hour before moving on, arriving one hour late.
On May 9th the 10.30 a.m. from Belfast due to arrive in Dublin at 12.35 eventually got into Dublin at 1.28p.m. and the reason we were given was engineering works.
As a businessman whose life revolves around tightly scheduled appointments I must be one of many who is totally frustrated by the apologies from Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnrod Eireann for what they call minor delays. As a regular traveller I have witnessed a serious deterioration in this service without any serious commitment to improvement. - Yours, etc.,
G. IRVINE GREY,
Ballsbridge Gardens,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.