Sir, - The announcement of a Metro system for Dublin is good news but any timetable needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. It has taken over five years to electrify the four miles of existing railway from Bray to Greystones.
When the project was announced there were supposed to be 25 DARTs a day to Greystones by November, 1997. After a number of delays the engineering work was finished in August, 1999. An interim service of four trains a day has run since the spring but four deadlines for the full service have passed. There has been no adequate explanation for these delays but I understand that the drivers, who are paid twice the average industrial wage, are not keen to work the rosters required to start Greystones service. Labour disputes have delayed the service for a full year. New DART carriages arrived last Christmas but are not yet in service.
This delay is disgraceful and nobody is taking responsibility. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr Derek Mitchell (Fine Gael), Manor Avenue, Greystones, Co Wicklow.