Madam, - Bernard C. Byrne (September 15th) suggests I somehow implied that the Phoenix Park Tunnel was disused. This is incorrect. The tunnel is in use to carry service and freight trains, albeit to a lesser extent now that Iarnród Éireann has decided not to carry any more single freight containers.
My proposition was that, for a relatively modest investment, this tunnel could be upgraded to carry at least some passengers from Heuston Station to the city centre. As your reader rightly says, this has the potential to offer early relief to commuters, and its consideration must come ahead of the proposed east-west interconnector tunnel with all its attendant planning, congestion, construction and costing uncertainties. - Yours, etc,
OLIVIA MITCHELL TD,
Dáil Éireann,
Dublin 2.