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COMPLETES ALL IRELAND RAIL NETWORK
ALL IRELAND RAIL NETWORK - THE FINAL
RAIL LINK - DONEGAL There are three main modes of transport countrywide - car, bus and rail. The car is king everywhere; followed by the
bus for volume commuting, and the rail network trails in third mainly linking cities and towns and for high capacity commuting
in the capital. Each has its own advantage. The car goes DIRECT to all areas, the principle of
'movement'. Bus and Rail go as directed mainly using the radial system all via the centre - the most INEFFICIENT of all. All
Counties in the Republic of Ireland have a rail line except Donegal. Now with a more favourable climate towards public transport
we have an opportunity to finally put this right. This Final Rail Link will have many advantages, not alone to Donegal, but
to the whole country as well, both North and South. This link is strategically located to complete the full rail network for
the whole country. Recently, we looked at the route and layout
of this final link (we had previously looked at this link back in 1996), and found it very satisfactory in many ways for a
project of this nature. We estimate the cost would be in excess of ONE BILLION EUROS, including a by-pass for Ballybofey and
single route by-pass from Sligo to Bundoran. The funding would come from the massive saving on the Dublin Transport plan I
have on this website (as opposed to the multi -billion plan put forward by the RPA). There is more to Ireland than Dublin!
It appears that if a plan is for Dublin the cost or waste is never questioned, but outside of Dublin, (except for motorways),
every Euro is examined 'over and over' with the purpose of saying NO. Here, below, we list the MAIN ADVANTAGES of completeing an All-Ireland Rail Network:- - It fully compltes a rail network around
Ireland
- It gives Donegal a rail line
- It is ideal for tourism from
all parts of Ireland and overseas
- It is ideal for tourist movements on bad weather days
- It can help keep more of our indigenous tourists at home with the beauty of the area
- Rail
capacity is needed with citizens living longer
- There is more room on rail for elderly and people
with disabilities to get around
- It gives a status to the West in all ways including business
- It maximizes efficiency of existing rail
- It links North and South via the West
- It benefits Colleges and Universities by providing easier access for students
- More
business and studying can be done on a train
- It can develop freight movements in the future
- Donegal will no longer be isolated
- It can bring more employment to the area
- It increases the efficiency of the Western Corridor
- It benefits Knock and Derry airports
- There is clear vision of beautiful scenery all the way from a train
- It allows more
local movements and bus connections
- It gives a better balance between all modes of transport
- It is a more suitable mode of transport for cilmate change conditions
The waste in the Dublin projectsdue to the radial
system, nullification, land use omission, duplication, congestion, fuel waste and use of different rail line gauges and so
on, amounts to over one billion Euros every year. The same amount that is wasted in Dublin should be used to build the 'FINAL
RAIL LINK' in DONEGAL.
TOM NEWTON
METRO THREAT to a transport solution for all Ireland by Tom Newton
The
routing of Metro and the rail interconnector are a real threat to the transport system on cost and inefficiencies. This massive
waste requires additional State funding subsidies. Thus resulting in massive pressure from bus "knockers" to pick
up on the easy target - THE BUS - to reduce the bus subsidy and so on. The Metro will be seen as 'the good guy'. There are
five major flaws in the proposed routing of the Metro system that will drive up cost (waste), outside of the actual construction.
These are:- THE RADIAL SYSTEM.
Like the spokes of a wheel, all via th centre. The main reason why public transport has to be heavily subsidised. It has hit
the trillion mark throughout the world in losses over the years. Integrating ticketing proves very costly with the 'radial
system'. NULLIFICATION. This is the other big flaw in public transport,
stopping it from solving the transport problems. It nullifies any gains. So how does it affect the Metro? If the Metro carries
100,000 passengers per day, how are these made up of the public transport users? Well it is suggested that this total would
be made up of transfers from buses and other modes of public transport, but the transfers would not be from new users of public
transport, thus leaving as many cars on the road as was the case originally. Thus, there is very little gain for such a big
outlay! LAND USE OMISSION. Inany transport solution, land use is
is the most important to address the transport problems to get a balance both in the city and the on the outskirts. Land Use
ismore important now due to so many commuters travelling long distances from the countryside due to the greed of buildres
and developers allegedly pushing up property prices for their own selfish gains.
GAUGE. This reference to track size is also important as it allows different line systems, particularly for future
extensions to maximise line potential. If you look on this website to my suggestions, for example, the '3 in 1' rail links
you will see how this makes sense and it also reduces inefficiencies. REVENUE
EXPLOITING. By routing the Metro Network in a selective way in 'selective' areas, the land value in the routed areas is raised.
This allows the local authorities to put on additional taxes or levies near the Metro line. (This has already happened when
one firm was taken to the High Court and made pay One Million Euros). This undermines competitiveness and jobs by driving
up costs.
THE INTER-CONNECTOR This is another major cost undertaking that is totally unnecessary. In my opinion, many
CIE officials, Government Departments, and the DTO are obsessed with this plan that losing face is more important to them
than saving costs to the tax payer. A short link-up from Connolly Station to Spencer Dock would be the answer. They built
a new Station in Spencer Dock in the worng palce costing €30 million. This Inter-connector will not take any of the existing
trains coming into Heuston Station. The 'Park Tunnel' WILL take all trains. LUAS LINK-UP FAILURE The reason why the two Luas lines were never linked-up was a deliberate action to put Metro and Inter-connector
underground to St. Stephens Green. If they linked up the two Luaslines from O'Connell Street to St. Stephens Green they would
never get an underground directly under the Luas as the tgracks could not be joined to run together. These are the main reasons
why the Metro should be put on hold until all this is examined. The alternative 'Metro' can be done at one-tenth the cost
of Transport 21. These are my personal views and do not form part of any Dublin Bus Company official plan Contact Tom Newton @ 086 3127364
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