Sir, - Well done J. Martin Stafford (October 12th), for your comments on the Ennis-Sligo train line. Living in Germany, I have come to appreciate how essential trains are in a modern society. Ireland deserves a train network which links all the major cities independently, without using Dublin as a central hub. Completing a minimal national train network on such a basis requires the reopening of only two lines - Ennis to Sligo and Waterford to Mallow.
The fact that the Ennis-Sligo line is still in place is a bonus. Recent figures on the Government website suggests that relaying tracks on current routes costs approximately £500,000 per mile. Presumably, this cost per mile would rise considerably on a disused track with a clean-up, signalling, stations and (appropriate)rolling stock to be added. Even at 115 miles, would the cost of this be so much greater than, say, the £150 million Drogheda bypass and would the benefit be less?
As well as the tourist and social benefits for the west, Iarnr≤d ╔ireann could use this as an opportunity for change. Perhaps use older trains on this route and introduce high-speed trains on Dublin routes. Get rid of those terrible queues at ticket desks by ticket machines. Rationalise the personnel costs, not by job losses, but by transferring staff to the new line.
As for the Waterford-Mallow route (approximately 80 miles), I believe much of this land was sold off by short-sighted politicians. As I lived for many years on this route and suffered the consequences, I feel robbed of my inheritance. Sadly, this line may be too expensive to resurrect, but I often dreamed of it to pass the hours on the ramshackle buses that replaced it. - Yours, etc.,
Liam Henry, Frankfurt, Germany