Seanad debates

Thursday, 14 November 2002

Rail Services and Related Transport Matters: Statements.

 

We should learn from the mistakes of the past. Mention was made of Dr. Todd Andrews, who in his day thought he was acting absolutely correctly, which was following the British example as we tended to do. We were actually following what Dr. Beeching was doing in England, with the massive closure of rail systems and the putting of everything modern on the roads. The motorways were being constructed. Road traffic seemed more efficient – and of course in some ways it was at that point because it was more flexible. One of the difficulties with a rail network is that it provides an inflexible method of transport. It joins cities and large urban populations, but the distribution is only along that corridor. In the 1950s and 1960s shifting freight on to the roads appeared to give much greater flexibility for economic advantage, but the roads rapidly became clogged. Roads are much less efficient now. They are a source of danger and pollution.

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