My Analysis of Irelands Railways.

MG wrote:

I think it is fair to ask who these corporate backers are and what sway do they have on policy

Biker Slut Monthly.

aliveandkicking wrote:

What is wrong with some of the people on this thread? how can you label P11 as "pathetic", "snide" and a "joke of an organisation". The government obviously doesn't think they are a joke. Are you all so wrapped up in cotton wool and used to polite political language and spin that you are incapable of recognising everyday speak? P11 are not a PR firm, they don't use political spin, they don't bull****, they tell things how it is even if it means some people are offended. P11 Comms has talked more sense in this thread than the rest of us put together.

P11 tells us that for 20 years Dubliners have been using a ''highly successful metro'', the DART. No spin? No bull****? Case rested.

sliabh wrote:

Personally the only way I would support the western rail corridor is if it was part of a greater "Western Development Corridor". I would bin the current decentralisation plan, and the joke National Spatial Strategy (the one that balances national development outside of Dublin by making every town in the country a national hub).

The National Spatial Strategy was a fantastic document. It was destroyed by the current Decentralisation carry-on. It breaks my heart to see that torn asunder in the last budget.

sliabh wrote:

Instead designate the line from Cork, to Limerick, to Galway, to Sligo, to Derry (yes there is life north of the border) as the counter weight for development to Dublin and Belfast. Then build the motorways and rail links to connect these cities. Upgrade ports, airports and telecoms, move sections the civil service to these areas. You can't give everyone a national hub next door but most of the population outside of Dublin would then within an hour or two of this western axis.

The problem with Derry is Donegal. There never was a railway line from Sligo to Derry and this has always been a misconception. It would take at least a billion euro just to get a rail line across the most undensly populated county in the state. The cost would be pushed up by having to tunnel though the mountains because any enviomental impact study would demand this becuase of the scenic beauty and limited access though the valleys. Getting the rail line across Sligo Town would require "stilts" (Cheers Seamo) or tunnelling under Sligo Town and for what? A passenger demand that Bus Eieann is already filling without any bother. But like the WRC, the real issue is not building new lines, but saving the present ones and getting the most out of them. Northern Ireland Railways seems very keen to close down the current Belfast Derry line and this is what people up there should be worried about. Like the WRC, you can't be planning to build a brand new conservatry on one's home, while the roof on your house is falling in and foundations crumbling.

sliabh wrote:

This would make a north-south rail line in the west something more than a political sop and outrageous white elephant. It would be a key part of a major regional development plan. But any sort of imaginative leap forward like this is not on the cards, mores the pity.

Platform11 believes strongly that if you make the present rail network in Ireland highly sucessful and come close to profitable, or at least reduce the public subvention (the interconnector will do that), then the image of rail in Ireland will just grow and grow and eventually we will get everything else in the end. Another important factor is proper spatial and strategically clustered planning and development and get away form this crazy one-off, rural house model.

If you looked in the sunday papers yesterday you cannot help to notice how many property ads have pictures of DART and Suburban trains on them. Create real rail commuter network around Cork, Galway and Limerick and you generate that same effect. In fact, it is already starting to happen on the Midleton line. You can only do this with frequent commuter trains and that means uncomplicated double track line, short branches with the stations close together. This is rail transport best practice for rail commuting well proven here in Ireland and all over the world - the Western Rail Corridor is a single track route over a vast distance with stations many miles apart and goes nowhere near the main centres of employment in Galway. ie; completely useless as a way of tackling traffic and congestion.

MG wrote:

Based on the P11 postings here I have come up with a slogan for you:


Platform 11 - "We shag women" (sponsored by Biker Slut Monthly)

Works for me. Nice human touch.

Metrobest me oul china! There ya are. Have you managed to get Deko the JCB Driver to build you metro as a nixer?

"Don't pretend you're happy to see me: you banned me from your P11 forum because I didn't agree with the Interconnector."

You will be unbanned as soon as the Minister makes a final decision regarding Metro v Interconnector. You were creating incredible confusion writing endless articles to the board about a figure of metro that does not exsist, will never exsist and is not even up for discussion with any official body - this was just leading to confusion among the ordinary person looking for straightforward answers regarding Metro v Interconnector. We are down to a two horse race for the next big spend and clarity and focus is essential at this point so a correct decision can be made.

You had some good ideas alright but you were overloading the board with hyperbole and fantasy metro talk. Right now, as we approach the endgame in all this we need clarity for people and polticians can get the real facts of what is an what is not on offer.

As for our hidden agenda there is none. It's getting as many "bums on train/metro/Luas seats" as possible and nothing else.