Sir, – I first came across the plans for the underground Dart connection between Connolly and Heuston stations in a secondary schoolbook in the 1980s. The news now that the Dart underground has been deferred until at least 2042 means I will be a pensioner should this plan finally come to fruition.
Perhaps I will be able to enjoy it for free at that point, but surely this is a ludicrous delay in delivering a better public transport service in Dublin in times of a climate crisis?
– Yours, etc,
RORY J WHELAN,
Drogheda, Co Meath.
Sir, – Bravo. So the Dart underground is put off until 2042, and no metro lines will be built to south or west of Dublin.
We should also postpone immediately the further densification of Dublin until 2042 as our current public transport system, even with the new BusConnects routes, will not be able to cope with thousands of more people needing to use it. It was already almost impossible pre-Covid to squeeze on to the Luas in the morning if you live any closer to the city than Windy Arbour or Dundrum. Yet, we will add entire new city quarters in south Dublin to the line in the coming years.
Getting a bus into town along the N11 during rush hour is also futile, they just drive by because they are full. When travelling around Europe, one realises that Dublin is one of the worst capital cities and most other secondary cities in terms of its tram, metro and rail network.
Forget buses, we do not and will never have the roads to cater for the amount of buses required to reduce car traffic sufficiently. Perhaps the decision makers should begin to use public transport and experience if their visionary decision of stalling any major improvement to the system is fit for decades to come. – Yours, etc,
JOERG SCHULZE,
Mount Merrion,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I’m very puzzled by this. I misunderstood. I thought that the Greens objective is to provide as much public transport as possible, yet the rail projects have essentially been abandoned. – Yours, etc,
ALEC QUINN,
Limerick.
Sir, – In 2006, Beijing had three operational metro lines; 15 years later, it has 24 – and 20 distinct extension projects which are expected to open between now and 2025.
Meanwhile in Ireland, construction on the Dart underground project, first proposed in 1972, will not start before 2042. You couldn’t make it up.
– Yours, etc,
RICHARD BANNISTER,
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.