A Subway for the future.

national | politics / elections | other press

Thursday October 19, 2006 13:58

by John McDermott - removefiannafail

The Clown in the Cabinet.

5 minutes to the Airport.
15 more to another planet.(where Martin lives)

Martin Cullen re-announces Dublin Subway plans

Coming down to earth...

January 2006; A DUBLIN businessman has written to the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, the Health and Safety Authority and the Railway Inspectorate about what he claims was the "filthy, unsafe, unsanitary and uncomfortable" condition of a mainline train last weekend.

But a spokesperson for Iarnrod Eireann said that while they accepted trains could be crowded, especially at the weekend, the issue was one of comfort rather than safety.

They could not comment on the particular complaint and they had not yet received an correspondence, but they promised that the situation would improve in 2007/2008 when 120 new carriages would add comfort and allow greater frequency on inter-city routes - such as the one complained of. Mr Owen Patten told the Sunday Independent that when he boarded the 2.25pm train from Westport to Dublin on Sunday last it was half full, but by the time it reached Ballyhaunis it was full.

"At Ballyhaunis, Claremorris and Roscommon, more and more passengers boarded, with the result that every gangway, every available space was filled with people and their luggage - even the spaces between the carriages," he said.

"Exit doors were blocked and the two toilets in the vicinity of where I was siting - carriage number 5223 - were locked and out of order. If there was any kind of emergency either on the track or in the train, I doubt if the rescue services would have been able to get to work very quickly.

"I talked to the ticket collector and he told me he had only got on at Castlereagh and couldn't do anything about it. At this stage I had given up my seat to an elderly nun who looked very frail," he added.

Mr Patten said that conditions were so bad that he and about 20 other passengers decided to get off the train at Athlone. "Some soldiers in uniform had to help a few elderly ladies off the train. We waited for the best part of an hour for the Galway train which was half full before we could continue to Dublin.

"I did asked to speak to the station master, but was told she was not available."

Mr Patten says he had a similar experience almost exactly a year ago so when he got home he rang some friends in Castlebar and Westport to ask them if there had been some special occasion that might have caused overcrowding.

"I was told there was nothing special, that this was a regular occurrence." http://www.soldiersofdestiny.org/theghosttrain.htm

During the 1977 election campaign ,Fianna Fail abolished domestic rates .It was said of the party,in their anxiety to get re-elected;

"If the electorate wanted the moon ,Fianna Fail would have offered to buy Cape Canaveral."!