Sir, – Your correspondent David Traynor said that the money from Apple should be used to build a high-speed rail connection from Belfast via Dublin to Cork – an admirable idea but I fear he will be well out in the cost (March 17th).
He thinks the €14 billion will complete the work, but that’s where I feel the scheme proposed falls down.
Here in the UK the original HS2 was priced at £37.5 billion from London to both Manchester and Leeds. It is now reckoned that to Birmingham alone it will cost between £49 billion and £67 billion for a distance of 225km – half the length of his proposed scheme.
This does not take into account rolling stock as Ireland has its own unique gauge incompatible with anywhere else.
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He should return to the drawing board – particularly about the cost – and also take in the environmental assessments and their added costs.
I think that maybe enhancing existing routes with more tracks to increase frequency, with a dedicated airport connection, may be a better alternative for his budget to reach his aim of moving traffic from the roads. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BERGIN
Oxton, Wirral,
England.
