Madam, - I wonder who the "suffering passengers" were that the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey TD was referring to at the opening of the Park West station (The Irish Times, August 6th). Certainly he was not referring to the commuters of Ballyfermot, the community which Iarnród Éireann resolutely refused to include in the Kildare Route Project.
Ballyfermot is one of the city's biggest suburbs. It has a population well in excess of 20,000 inhabitants. It has a very high public transport dependency ratio. It has ceaseless convoys of cars - mainly "through traffic" - on many of its narrow streets and roads. It has no Dart, no Luas, no Metro, no suburban rail service, etc. But it does have a railway line running through it.
Some years ago when it was announced that this railway line was to be developed to deliver a new suburban rail service - the Kildare Route Project - many people in Ballyfermot believed that, being the biggest suburb on the route, the area would get at least one station. The Kylemore Road area - roughly at a halfway point through the district - was mooted as a good location for such a station. However, Iarnród Éireann persistently dismissed the idea.
Instead of merely regurgitating Iarnród Éireann "spin" on projects such as the Kildare Route, the media should take a far more objective stance. In particular they should question how it is that places with a big "corporate" presence like Park West are included in public transport schemes while communities like Ballyfermot, with huge public transport needs, are excluded. - Yours, etc,
Cllr MICHAEL CONAGHAN,
Dublin City Council,
Dublin 2.