Do we need a rail network?

Purple

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This is a small country with improving roads and good intercity motorway network (especially on the routes that have rail connections). Do we need an intercity rail network? Why not spend the money on light rail networks in Dublin and Cork and other cities?

Just remember who Iarnród Éireann are
 
it would lead to more trucks and congestion on the roads for sure, how much though its hard to say..
 
it would lead to more trucks and congestion on the roads for sure, how much though its hard to say..

Make the current rail lines into intercity QBC's. Run cycle paths and QBC's along the current urban rail lines, unless they are being used for urban light rail.

What proportion of train journeys are currently commuter trips? Imagine if the LUAS or DART ran out as far as Maynooth or Arklow?
 
Purple you're missing one big problem with this plan - what to do with all Iarnrod Eireann staff. Obviously none could be let go (that would never be allowed to happen) so they would have to be retrained to drive buses and what would we do with all the surplus staff once the bus driver positions are filled - maybe we could bring back the bus conductor?
 
Dunnes Stores employees have, it seems, a very genuine gripe with their employer ; contracts that to me seem to be unreasonable and exploitative. They are going through the correct process and seeking to get better conditions of employment. I hope they succeed and until they do I will continue to avoid Dunnes Stores.
What the Irish Rail employees are striking about is a world away from that. They are being unreasonable and obstructionist. I hope their disgraceful behaviour doesn't colour the publics view of the Dunnes dispute.
 
I heard a guy from Irish Rail on the Morning Ireland this morning saying that they need an additional €100,000,000 a year from the tax payer to subsidise the rail network.
The presenter asked why we need a rail network at all, given that busses were faster on many routes. He had no real answer.
The network carries less than 40,000,000 passengers a year. Therefore the tax payer currently subsidises each journey to the tune of €3.18 but Irish Rail want that increased to €5.68 per journey. Madness.
 
Dunnes Stores employees have, it seems, a very genuine gripe with their employer ; contracts that to me seem to be unreasonable and exploitative. They are going through the correct process and seeking to get better conditions of employment. I hope they succeed and until they do I will continue to avoid Dunnes Stores.
What the Irish Rail employees are striking about is a world away from that. They are being unreasonable and obstructionist. I hope their disgraceful behaviour doesn't colour the publics view of the Dunnes dispute.

Dunnes Stores is known around Cavan as a good employer. Many of their staff have been working there for 20 years and speak highly of them.
 
This is a small country with improving roads and good intercity motorway network (especially on the routes that have rail connections). Do we need an intercity rail network? Why not spend the money on light rail networks in Dublin and Cork and other cities?

Just remember who Iarnród Éireann are

Not everyone lives in cities and I don't see why rail should only be available to those who live in them or on route that aren't served by motorways or national routese. I commute from my home in the south east to Dublin 5 days per week for work. Driving, it can take up to 2.5hrs each way. The train is shorter, safer and I can work while I travel.

Saying that, my ticket is increasing by €200+ in 2015 and even with the TaxSaver ticket, the cost is almost €4k per year. Still cheaper however I'd imagine than bringing the car!
 
Not everyone lives in cities and I don't see why rail should only be available to those who live in them or on route that aren't served by motorways or national routese. I commute from my home in the south east to Dublin 5 days per week for work. Driving, it can take up to 2.5hrs each way. The train is shorter, safer and I can work while I travel.

Saying that, my ticket is increasing by €200+ in 2015 and even with the TaxSaver ticket, the cost is almost €4k per year. Still cheaper however I'd imagine than bringing the car!

Rail should not be available to areas where it is not commercially viable to provide it. I accept that the state has a public service obligation but that can be fulfilled using busses which are much cheaper and can be opened up to competition.
Your rail journeys costs the people of Ireland thousands of Euro each year.
Why should the state subsidise your working arrangements like that?

If they provided a helicopter for me to get into work it would only take 10 minutes but that's not an efficient use of our limited funds.
 
I'm sure most country roads in rural parts of Ireland don't cover the costs of their upkeep. Should we turn them back into farmland?
 
I'm with you on this one Purple, but please not until after the weekend as I'm travelling to the Big Shmoke on Sat to watch the rugby ;)
 
Rail should not be available to areas where it is not commercially viable to provide it. I accept that the state has a public service obligation but that can be fulfilled using busses which are much cheaper and can be opened up to competition.
Your rail journeys costs the people of Ireland thousands of Euro each year.
Why should the state subsidise your working arrangements like that?.

Public transport services provided by the State are subsidised across the world and Ireland is no different to many other countries.

Do you honestly think that a €10 inter-city public transport bus ticket makes a higher contribution to the upkeep of the road network and to the maintenance of the public transport operator's fleet than my train ticket? You're in cloud cookoo land if you do.

Even motor tax receipts don't go directly to the upkeep and maintenance of our road network. Motor tax goes to the Local Government Fund where a large part of it goes towards grants to local authorities to support their general operational activities

So the reality is that irrespective of whether you are a motorist, a public transport bus or rail passenger, your ticket is not meeting the true cost of the journey or of the maintenance of the network and it is subsidised by the State.

At least I am contributing almost €4,000 a year for my train ticket for the service, and in turn I can subsidise some of those I see every day travelling for free!
 
Public transport services provided by the State are subsidised across the world and Ireland is no different to many other countries.

Do you honestly think that a €10 inter-city public transport bus ticket makes a higher contribution to the upkeep of the road network and to the maintenance of the public transport operator's fleet than my train ticket? You're in cloud cookoo land if you do.

Even motor tax receipts don't go directly to the upkeep and maintenance of our road network. Motor tax goes to the Local Government Fund where a large part of it goes towards grants to local authorities to support their general operational activities

So the reality is that irrespective of whether you are a motorist, a public transport bus or rail passenger, your ticket is not meeting the true cost of the journey or of the maintenance of the network and it is subsidised by the State.

At least I am contributing almost €4,000 a year for my train ticket for the service, and in turn I can subsidise some of those I see every day travelling for free!
I’m not saying that road users contribute more proportionately more or less than rail users. That, respectfully, is irrelevant. It is public infrastructure and so is and should be provided by the state for everyone.

My point is that rail serves a narrower band of uses and users and most of its functions can also be provided by the road infrastructure. This is a very small country with almost no heavy industry and a reasonable good road infrastructure between major urban centres (the areas services by trains). Why are we duplicating services in such an expensive way?
 
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