Sir, - What is it with Frank McDonald and the Metro? In your edition of May 7th, he threatens us with a dreary straggle of Ballymuns along the routes proposed for the Metro, which he claims will be needed to make it viable.
The DTO's very sensible plan is that by 2015, commuters will have switched from road to rail in large numbers. Metro can carry 50,000 an hour, Luas only one tenth of that, so if DTO's proposed three Metro lines are scrapped, 30 Luas lines would be needed instead - not very practical. Rather than replacing our pleasant leafy suburbs with high-rise ribbon development, as Mr McDonald suggests, feeder buses and park and ride sites serving the Metro stations will be just as effective, and far more acceptable.
Let's have an unbiased debate about what sort of a city we want in 2015. If it needs €8 billion to provide a transport system that works, so be it. It will be paid for by a mix of PPP funds and rail users' fares. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL BOYLE,
Butterfield Drive,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.