Republican News · Thursday 10 April 2003

Train delayed indefinitely

BY ROBBIE SMYTH

Everybody knows there are two Irelands today. First, there is the Ireland of the rich and pampered tax avoiders and then there is the other Ireland in which the rest of us live. This is the Ireland of people who don't have helicopters, chauffeurs or the private taxi plate to drive in bus lanes. There are literally millions of us on this island who don't have a car.

These two Irelands clashed last week as Fianna Fáil transport minister Seamus Brennan launched the Strategic Rail Review. The review is flawed in many ways. It proposes §8.5 billion in spending over 20 years without any real commitment from the government about where the money will come from or if the coalition will even consider part funding this strategy.

At the same time, over §1 billion is being spent annually by the government on new road projects in the 26 Counties without any dilemma about finding the funds or how some of these projects will actually contribute to, rather than relieve, gridlock on our streets.

Indeed, minister Brennan showed the strange thinking of the coalition by stating on one hand that the review was not ambitious enough and then, in the face of a multi-billion euro funding gap between reality and aspiration in this review, devoting some of his speaking time to discussing the sale of Iarnród Eireann property, which will net a possible §100 million at best for the company.

Then there is the absence of any attempt to have a real all-Ireland dimension in the review. This was highlighted by Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin TD and Transport spokesperson, who raised not just the issue of an all-Ireland network but also the deficiency that there is "no commitment to balanced regional development". In particular, he highlighted the need for a western rail corridor.

There is a clear need for the rebuilding of the Dublin Derry train line that could, in the context of an all-island rail network, provide a vital transport/infrastructure spine in the future Ireland. This is not dealt with in any substance in the report.

Then there is the §1 billion proposal for an interconnector tunnel between Heuston and Connolly stations even though there is a barely used surface rail connection between the two stations.

Platform 11, a rail lobby groups has pointed out that the §1 billion could be much better spent on other projects such as a Galway-Limerick-Cork line for §290 million or Limerick-Shannon-Ennis for §117 million, Athlone-Mullingar for §154 million, Derry-Letterkenny for §151 million or Navan-Drogheda for _§110 million.

This blinding logic does not reach that other Ireland inhabited by our chauffeur-driven ministers. Perhaps the most telling aspect of the launch of the minister's report was the bottled water on the tables. I wonder does Seamus Brennan know how many of the trains under his remit don't have even this basic facility. How many are not just overcrowded, but do not have working toilets, food and snacks or even seats that are not threadbare and crumbling?

Maybe when you are enveloped in the soft leather seats of an air-conditioned Mercedes, these concerns seem very far away. What are the bets we get a new luxury government jet for our cabinet before any decision is taking on funding a rail service for the people?