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news report
 Monday January 27, 2003 15:25 by Graham Caswell - Green Party caswell at indigo dot ie
 Still obsessed with the Cult of the Car In a world of gridlock, climate change, oil-wars and 2-hr commutes the government spends six times as much on new roads as on new public transport systems. This is short-term, myopic madness. A real public debate is long overdue. The Green Party is calling on Minister Séamus Brennan to present the report on the Strategic Rail Review to the Dáil to stimulate a debate on our National Transport Strategy. Green Party Transport spokesperson, Eamon Ryan TD, said today: "The arrival of the strategic rail review on the desk of Minister Séamus Brennan has been accompanied by the leaking of the main recommendations. Rather than adding to "While we welcome the main conclusion of the report that substantial investment is needed in our rail services, we can only react with some dismay that the report is said to rule out the immediate opening of new rail lines such as the proposed Western rail corridor." "The reported emphasis on promoting the inter city routes eliminates the huge potential that exists for the development of new commuter rail services into Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Sligo. Additional rail services increase marginal costs but they help spread the huge capital cost that is already spent on maintaining the national rail network. It is ominous in this regard that the leaked reports have omitted to mention the future of the rail freight "The proposed rail interconnector from Heuston to Spencer Dock would improve the efficiency of both the Dublin suburban and indeed the interurban rail system. This could also connect up with the city centre underground Metro stations, the designs for which are also sitting on the Minister's desk. The rail review will be useless if the Government does not reverse its current strategy of spending six times as much on new roads as on new public transport systems." |
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Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3Remember the Celtic Tiger? All the money flowing into the economy that made us all richer? Well, we spent it all on brand new motor cars (and some new roads through ancient oak forests). Sorry, there's just no money left over for rail (or hospitals). It's time to tighten the oul' belt. Naturally, when I'm speeding in the ministerial merc chattin' on the oul' mobile my belt will be a little less tightened than yours.
But sure, who wants to sit on a bus with a lot of other smelly proles? In the car you've got your own space, crank up the fat beats and slurp the coffee down while you do your makeup. Buses and trains are what schoolkids travel on. Real people sit in 5mph traffic and fume (sic) and then when they get to work talk about how "desperate" it was.
And don't talk to me about those nutters that ride bicycles! Sure isn't it too dangerous to ride a bicycle with all the cars on the road?
If we don't seriously deal with the root causes of conflicts they are bound to keep happening again and again.
I'll join in any anti-war protest at Shannon or otherwise. But I have been at so many of them over the years and quite frankly the world is becoming more right-wing and not less.
DONT FORGET all the money being spend on buying military hardware by this government that is allowing illiegal infringements of our territory, by a moron from texas who did not believe in any form of international co-operation during Kyoto or Johanesburg!