MetroLink: another example of Dublin’s piecemeal approach to transport planning

Sir, – Fintan O’Toole suggests that public transport difficulties are largely a problem for people living in west Dublin and on the northside (“The northside is a different country for transport decision-makers”, Opinion, August 4th). Yet the north side of the city is, in fact, relatively well served by rail.

I live in the Rathfarnham area and, although now retired, I spent many wet weekday mornings enduring slow bus journeys into the city centre. This part of Dublin has neither a rail nor a tram service, so we too have to “get the bus”, as Fintan puts it.

The broader point is that Dublin as a whole is not easy to get around, whether for residents or visitors. The public transport network remains fragmented and poorly integrated. MetroLink may well bring benefits to those living along its route, but it will do very little to address the wider shortcomings of the city’s transport system.

Spending what looks likely to be well in excess of €20 billion on a single metro line seems a questionable priority when so many parts of Dublin remain without any rail-based public transport. It is, unfortunately, another example of the piecemeal and incoherent approach to transport planning that we have come to expect. – Yours, etc,