Enhanced railway lines, the ticket to the byelections

The big issues No 1- public transport: Conrad Rennicks lives in Navan, Co Meath, and commutes to Dublin by bus each weekday. For him the most important transport issue in the byelection is the reopening of the Dublin to Navan railway line.

"The line is there, I think Tara Mines use some of it. I've sat in the car at a level crossing and seen it. Some councillors in the town have started a campaign and I would support that," he told The Irish Times.

Conrad used to drive to Dublin but found the two-hour journey was punishing and he now commutes by bus. He uses an annual ticket which is tax efficient.

The Department of Transport is introducing a scheme to allow buses to use hard shoulders of roads as bus lanes on the northern and southern approaches to Dunshaughlin in Co Meath, one of the worst traffic bottlenecks on the N3.

However, Conrad doesn't think too much of this plan, as "it would only really count where the traffic is backed up, but the road is generally too narrow. What happens if a car breaks down?" he asked.

Despite the long commute, Conrad says the Bus Éireann service is frequent and reliable. The journey takes just over an hour from the centre of Navan to O'Connell Street. Buses depart about every 20 minutes in the morning peak and Conrad leaves Navan at about 7.40am to arrive in Dublin "before nine".

"But it only takes one hiccup for the whole thing to collapse" he said, mentioning an incident last week in which a lorry jack-knifed, closing the N3 for several hours at peak time.

Conrad said a motorway from Dublin to north of Kells would make a big difference and bypassing Navan and Dunshaughlin would be a tremendous advantage.

While politicians say the issue of congestion at Dublin's West Link has been raised, surprisingly few have mentioned the debate over the proposed M3 through the Tara / Skryne valley as something which would influence their vote.

The central, recurring issue appears to be the railway.

When he was taoiseach, John Bruton memorably had a Dart train towed out to Greystones during the 1996 Wicklow byelection, to demonstrate his promise to extend the service to the town.

But a spokesman for Transport Minister Martin Cullen insisted there would be no similar promises in the Meath byelection. Mr Cullen has flagged a possible reopening of the line from Dublin to Dunboyne, as part of major 10-year transport package to be released next month.

The rapidly increasing population of Co Meath has grown by 20 percent over the last six years.

Labour candidate Dominic Hannigan, a transport consultant, said Iarnród Éireann miscalculated the figures and he insists the Navan line is viable.

According to Iarnród Éireann, transport issues in Meath and North Kildare are best addressed by the implementation of its inter-connector plan for Dublin city. Spokesman Barry Kenny, who commutes from North Kildare, said the building of the proposed Docklands station would increase trains on the Maynooth line to a potential 16 per hour.

Under the ambitious interconnector plan, the lines would be electrified, essentially providing a Dart-like service to Drogheda, Maynooth, Dunboyne and Kildare.

But of more pressing interest to the people of North Kidare is the Kildare route project which will see the development of four lines between Dublin's Cherry Orchard and Hazlehatch, allowing the separation of commuter and inter city services.

Tim Willoughby from Naas drives to Dublin to work.

"Twenty five minutes to Newlands Cross; 25 minutes to get through the Red Cow; and 25 minutes from there to work" is how Tim sums up the journey.

Too few trains in the evening, overcrowding and the remoteness of Heuston station all combine to make train travelling unappealing.

"More trains is the election issue, more trains" he concludes.

Bobby McGory of Naas travels by car to Clondalkin along the N7 on weekdays and Saturdays. Crossing the bridge to join the dual carriageway at Naas he sees cars backed up for miles in the direction of Newbridge.

He blames the lights at Kill and Johnstown for the delay but reckons he is fortunate in that he doesn't cross the Red Cow interchange on the M50.