Sir, – There is no justification for fare increases at a time when our public transport network is offering a very poor service to its customers.
We have a railway service which is at best infrequent, overcrowded and filthy; the state of some of the carriages leaves a lot to be desired; and as for the toilets, these are rarely clean, and in most cases are out of order.
The commuter services outside of the Dart corridor and the Cork suburban service do not meet the needs of the traveller, and do not offer services in a lot of cases after 6.30pm.
The Bus Éireann network is, on the other hand, more reliable, but is expensive, and does not really offer a cost-effective alternative to using the car.
There is a strong case for privatisation on a number of routes, and the competition might serve to improve timetables and service, and ultimately give the customer a better choice of options. – Yours, etc,
ROBIN D HEATHER,
Wicklow Town.
A chara, – The comprehension gap between official Ireland and majority of the population is truly staggering.
Government Ministers repeatedly state that people are not, for example, getting the message on water charges and that Irish Water needs to clean up its PR act.
The people do, manifestly, get the message and are sickened by it. The majority are struggling to live out their lives following six years of unrelenting cutbacks and freezes in incomes and services.
The comprehension gap is further illuminated by the decision, far away from the budget drama, to increase public transport fares by, as Conor Pope noted, 10 times the rate of inflation ("Bus and rail passengers hit in the pocket", October 29th).
This is on top of a 48 per increase in Dublin Bus fares since 2011. These phenomenal increases in the context of one of the lowest publicly funded transport services in Europe do not apparently even register with Government or the senior public servants in quangos who make these decisions.
The users of public transport are in the main not Government or senior public servants but the working population and their children. Given all of this and so much more, the fact that the Government is apparently shocked at the response to water charges truly reveals a tale of two countries.
Citizens know from past experience with other services and by the reality of water charges in England that the only way these levies will go is upwards and the much-vaunted easements announced in the budget will go the same way as waste charge waivers, into the dustbin of history. – Is mise,
JOHN SULLIVAN,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.