Sir, - I read with sympathy Ronan Clarke's letter (November 26th) about his ordeal when travelling - or should I say, rattling and banging? - westwards.
He is not alone in his plight!
Having recently moved to north Wexford, I have the misfortune of having to travel on the 6.57 a.m. and 5.29 p.m. Arklow-Connolly commuter train, and for two months now we have not arrived at either end on time. But why should I complain when there are hundreds of Wicklow commuters who have endured this so-called service for a lot longer than me.
Like many others, little did I know when I purchased my monthly commuter ticket that I would have to make kamikaze runs from the station to get to work on time, twiddle my thumbs while unexplained delays are incurred, encounter complete absence of the Friday evening train due to shortage of carriages etc., etc., - all this, with not so much as a decent apology (never mind compensation) to those affected.
I call on Irish Rail and the Minister for Transport to do this country a favour, pull our rail service out of the dark ages and provide a service to the public for which they are already paying for both in taxes and fares. - Yours, etc.,
Ronan O'Keeffe,
Gorey, Co Wexford.