Madam, - Barry Kenny, lambasting economist Sean Barrett (December 28th), writes that "this country is still suffering from an infrastructural deficit", and by this he meant rail and bus infrastructure. I agree.
However, all the brouhaha about Transport 21 is little consolation to those who live near Leixlip, Clonsilla, Coolmine, Castleknock, Ashtown, Broombridge and Drumcondra, who see 80 commuter trains a week pass them by so that those who live in Maynooth and sometimes beyond can save a total journey time of eight minutes. No capital spending is required to provide a one-minute halt at each of these stations.
Where is the public policy logic in giving priority to commuters from afar over those near the city? A 40-minute wait between consecutive trains whose journey time is half-an-hour at most is clearly excessive. The Sunday service is a joke for Intel's seven-day, 12-hour shift workers: how are they served by a last train to the city departing at 7.37pm?
Is it any wonder that only around 2 per cent of the company's 5,000-plus staff commute by public transport? For those not fatigued by daily car commuting who might venture into the city on a week night, the last train home departs at 10.30pm - too early to return from a show.
Irish Rail, please justify these anachronisms. For those adversely affected, Transport 21 is like a red rag to a bull. - Yours, etc,
JOHN COLGAN, Dublin Road, Leixlip, Co Kildare.