Sir, - It was with great interest that I read your report on Mr Bill Power's address to the annual meeting of the Irish Hotels Federation, of which he is president (The Irish Times, February 23rd). He described CIE as a "dinosaur" and called for the railways to be privatised. However, We have only to compare the British rail system to that of the French to see that privatisation doesn't work.
In Britain, the then Tory Government listened to the privatisation lobby. It promised more high-quality trains, fewer delays, and reduced government subvention, even hoping to eliminate subvention altogether. But what did the British travelling public get? A handful of multi-millionaires (former British Rail managers), poorer rolling stock, increased delays, a reduction in rail services, and of course, an increase in government subvention. So incensed is the present British government with private railway companies that it has threatened to revoke their franchises if they don't live up to promises soon.
Compare this with SCNF - French Railways - a public company like Iarnrod Eireann. It has the safest track and signalling system in Europe, the finest rolling stock, and the fastest and most efficient railway. So, what's the difference between SCNF and Iarnrod Eireann? Over the past 30 years or so, successive French governments have had the foresight to see that the only way to move large numbers of people from place to place is by rail. They therefore invested heavily in their railway system, five times more per capita than in Ireland. Successive Irish Governments over the same period lacked this foresight and, until this present Government, continually refused to invest in railways. This is why we now have a 19th-century railway at the dawn of the 21st century.
Finally, Mr Power and his colleagues could solve their own staff shortages by paying 21st-century wages to their staff, not 19th-century ones as at present! - Yours, etc., Kevin Connolly,
(Locomotive driver), Oakvale Park, Bay Estate, Dundalk.