Sir, - The service offered by Iarnr≤d ╔ireann on the Dublin-Rosslare route needs serious revision to meet the needs of the growing population of counties Wicklow and Wexford as well as those who travel by ferry to and from Rosslare.
The main Inter-City service offers three trains daily in each direction which do not guarantee any link with the departure and arrival times of ferries at Rosslare. I have often arrived by ferry in Rosslare to see an empty train leaving the station before the ferry has docked. The same can be said of the ferries, which sometimes leave port before the train has arrived at Rosslare.
The daily commuter service from Arklow leaves about 7 a.m., arriving in Dublin Connolly at 8.50 a.m., and the return train leaves Connolly at 5.25 p.m., arriving in Arklow at approximately 7 p.m. This train is really suitable only for people living and working very near the rail line, and certainly gives no hope to those who want to start work early or work on in the evening.
This is the only commuter train on the line, and consequently it is always dangerously overcrowded. Also, the carriages are more than 20 years old. Local politicians in Wicklow are calling for the re-opening of rail stations at Avoca and Glenealy but there is really no point in even thinking about this until the trains are upgraded.
The DART service now allows the people of Greystones to get to and from Dublin at regular intervals. This should be supplemented with a regular shuttle train service from Gorey to Greystones, which would allow commuters and other rail users a greater flexibility of service, and reduce the volume of vehicle traffic on the already overcrowded N11 roads from Wexford to Dublin. As it stands, the only way to get to Dublin and back in the evening is by car as there is no rail service between Greystones and Rosslare after 7 p.m.
If Iarnr≤d ╔ireann were to offer a better, more reliable service on this line, it would certainly be used, and the volume of cars on the N11 would decrease. - Yours, etc.,
Robin D Heather, Dunbur Lower, Wicklow.