Railway is right way

Irish Independent - Letter to the Editor
14.03.05


Sir - I am a resident of Ratoath, Co Meath. I work in Dublin city
centre and I never travel the N3 Navan Road during rush hour (I'm not
that tolerable). I travel the road connecting Ratoath to Kilbride,
which then connects to the back of Blanchardstown or the back of
Finglas, depending on your destination. It is a gentle introduction to
the morning madness.

I completely agree that the M3 would cause further congestion for
commuters. The new motorway would presumably link back to the N3 where
the current dual carriageway begins en route to Dublin, just before
Clonee.

More roads do indeed mean more cars, so are we now going to have
traffic backed up from the first of the three Blanchardstown
roundabouts to well past Clonee, perhaps back even as far as Kepak,
every morning? Not to forget that it will cost us to shell out tolls
for this 'pleasure'.

So why not have the Navan rail-line. Notably, there is no rail link
between the northern link to Belfast and the western link to Westport.
Why is this? If it were there, it would surely take some of the daily
commuters off the road and onto the trains.

Is there anything that we as residents of Meath can do to push for a
railway? I mean can we draw serious attention to the issue? We
certainly need to be heard and we need action, not promises from
candidates of the by-election. It may not be newsworthy but it is a
crisis at present. Let the commuters choose as they wish:

* A bus, which has to sit in the same traffic as the cars;

* A car, which has to sit in the same traffic as the rest of the cars;

* A train, which does NOT have to sit in traffic, save for minor delays
at stations.

Garreth Duggan,
Fairyhouse Road,
Ratoath,
Co Meath