Sir, - While I welcome the recent commentary on high‑speed rail, I cannot help feeling that like so many major infrastructure projects in this country, I will never live to see the benefits, and I am only in my early 50s.
Our rail network, much like our motorway system, is built on a point‑to‑point model radiating out from Dublin. That may have made perfect sense when first constructed, but it is no longer fit for purpose for a growing and geographically dispersed population.
Take one simple example, Ballina and Sligo lie less than 50km apart as the crow flies, a journey of under an hour by car. Both towns have railway stations.
Yet, according to Irish Rail’s own journey planner, travelling between them by train can take up to nine and a half hours. The situation is just as absurd in the southeast: Waterford and Wexford are separated by a similar distance, but the rail journey can take as long as eight hours.
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One practical proposal might be to link existing main lines at strategic points, allowing passengers to transfer efficiently between routes. The Western Rail Corridor has shown, at least in part, what such connectivity can achieve.
For once, the idiom “joined up thinking” might actually provide the solution. – Yours etc,
GERRY RYAN
Ashbourne
Co Meath
