BRENDAN M. REDMOND,
Madam, - The article on congestion on the country's roads (October 25th) is in ironic contrast with reports that Iarnrod Eireann plans to reduce its rail freight section because of losses incurred in part of its network.
On the roads we have near gridlock and on the railways we are approaching meltdown - over-use of one and under-usage of the other.
Hardly a week goes by without news of another crash involving a lorry, the outcome often fatal. Is there no one at Government level with the wit to come up with a policy to get these large juggernauts off the roads and make the owners of these monsters use the railway network to carry their goods?
A container arrives in Dublin port from abroad. It is driven from the ship through the city centre to add to the already congested streets and eventually reaches the suburbs to start its journey to one of our inland towns, many of which have railheads. This is uncontrolled madness and no one appears to care.
I cannot help feeling that in five years' time or less, when there is total chaos on our roads and the death rate has reached a level that can no longer be ignored, the Govenment will wake up and take action.
But why not do it now? Attract road freight to the railways by using the carrot and stick. Make it financially attractive for companies to use the rail system and penalise them heavily if they send goods by road out of choice.
We will pay dearly for this lack of foresight. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN M. REDMOND, Hazelbrook Road, Terenure, Dublin 6.