A chara, - I write to register my annoyance and frustration at the shambles of a service which Iarnrod Eireann is providing on the Sligo-Dublin train line. I have used this service regularly over the past seven years and in that time there has been no appreciable improvement in the speed, frequency or standard of the service. In fact some would argue that a bad service has got even worse.
We were told many months ago that one of the key target dates for the overhaul of the line was May 29th 2000. What a load of rubbish. Last Sunday, June 18th, those of us who had the misfortune of travelling from Sligo to Dublin were bussed as far as Longford. In Longford there was a 30-minute delay. When the train did eventually arrive there were insufficient carriages. People were forced to stand in corridors; mothers with children were sitting on floors; and to cap it all, the train was like a sauna. This is unacceptable.
What I cannot understand is why Iarnod Eireann staff seem so incapable of judging the numbers who will be travelling by rail on a Sunday evening. Is such an analysis beyond them or is it that they couldn't give a damn? I am still trying to figure this one out. - Yours, etc.,
Diarmuid Finan, Strandhill Road, Sligo.