Leo V sez.....

AlekSmart

Give up yer oul planning there lads......

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/airport-metro-link-plan-suspended-2887073.html

Nothing too surprising there I suppose,except perhaps the very issue of a statement from a Minister who has seemingly become enrolled in a contemplative order after a somewhat mercurial start.....;)

However it's equally interesting that mention is made of the fiscal conflict which many of the Big-Bang Public Transport projects were going to have with certain other...erm...strategic elements,such as Road Tolls....

It had been hoped the service would take traffic off the M50 by carrying up to 36 million passengers a year.

Indeed ....and I would imagine that figure reasonated somewhat with the major Toll Collection providers as they gazed out upon an increasingly windswept and empty Motorway network...OH !..Hang on,sure it really does'nt matter does it...sure wont the taxpayer pony up the difference anyway....silly me !!

CIE

So it's Metro Naught for Dublin now. Also looks bad for all of the other PPPs. Will Varadkar disband the RPA too?

foggy_lad

CIE wrote: »

So it's Metro Naught for Dublin now. Also looks bad for all of the other PPPs. Will Varadkar disband the RPA too?

Disband CIE and he Could save a fortune, he should also come out and publicly put the brakes on any further folly along the western rail corridor!

steve-o

In fairness I always thought that LuasWest was a bit of a joke (a slow winding shuttle between shopping centres). No loss there IMHO.

Marathon Man

Sure King Leo himself would never be using it anyway. Only the poor working class sods of Dublin. I would like to see him commute on public transport only for a few weeks. What would his opinion be then?

markpb

Marathon Man wrote: »

Sure King Leo himself would never be using it anyway. Only the poor working class sods of Dublin. I would like to see him commute on public transport only for a few weeks. What would his opinion be then?

Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else, he lives in an apartment in west Dublin and, at least until he was appointed a minister, took the Maynooth line train to and from work. I'm not sure if he still does, do you?

Besides, why not discuss the merits of the project on it's own terms instead of simply dissing the closest politician?

CIE

foggy_lad wrote: »

Disband CIE and he Could save a fortune, he should also come out and publicly put the brakes on any further folly along the western rail corridor

What folly? Only folly is the M18. But it seems that only in Ireland is the greater taxpayer expenditure cheered on, as well as the one that spews out the greater sulphur emissions. Welcome to the 20th Century, Ireland, never mind losing independence once more.

markpb wrote: »

Marathon Man wrote: »

Sure King Leo himself would never be using it anyway. Only the poor working class sods of Dublin. I would like to see him commute on public transport only for a few weeks. What would his opinion be then?

Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else, he lives in an apartment in west Dublin and, at least until he was appointed a minister, took the Maynooth line train to and from work. I'm not sure if he still does, do you?

Whether a minister takes public transport or not does not influence his agenda one bit in favour of same.

markpb wrote: »

Besides, why not discuss the merits of the project on its own terms instead of simply dissing the closest politician?

Funny how the calls to do that only appear upon the cancellation of the project in question. Not only is Varadkar the "closest politician" to this project, he's responsible for its demise, and what makes him open for criticism is his presenting no alternative, cheaper, viable or both.

Art(h)ur

foggy_lad wrote: »

Disband CIE and he Could save a fortune

Just count the number of public bodies involved in this seemingly simple step of suspending a project:

Mr Varadkar said acting on the advice of the National Transport Authority (NTA), he has instructed the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) to withdraw its application for a Railway Order from An Bord Pleanala.

So the Transport Minister and Transport Authority are two separate institutions - well, this looks like a great cost saving opportunity...

Back to the subject - it looks to me like a warm up for a bigger wave of cancellations/indefinite suspensions etc

Marathon Man

markpb wrote: »

Unless I'm mixing him up with someone else, he lives in an apartment in west Dublin and, at least until he was appointed a minister, took the Maynooth line train to and from work. I'm not sure if he still does, do you?

Well the first thing one would expect from a minister is that they practice what they preach. A health minister should ideally be healthy for a start (think Mary Harney ), and it would help to be a doctor who has an in-depth knowledge of the system.
The train is a classless mode of transport. What I'm referring to is the dirty, possibly smoke-filled Dublin buses or potential ruffian filled luas.
And yes I see Leo on the top deck of the 78A every morning

LXFlyer

Alan Kelly does use Dublin Bus.

What more do you want? Both ministers have and do use public transport.

jacko1

lxflyer wrote: »

Alan Kelly does use Dublin Bus.

What more do you want? Both ministers have and do use public transport.

I've also seen Alan Kelly using the train in Cork - makes a change from the last shower in their mercs

devnull

To be fair the current two main guys do seem to be much more grounded in the transport area than the ones they replaced - they do have a lot of work on their hands but at least we are seeing some progress now - which is encouraging.

robd

devnull wrote: »

To be fair the current two main guys do seem to be much more grounded in the transport area than the ones they replaced - they do have a lot of work on their hands but at least we are seeing some progress now - which is encouraging.

Indeed. It's the sum of the little things that makes a difference rather than once off mega projects and shinny new toys.

murphaph

Art(h)ur wrote: »

Back to the subject - it looks to me like a warm up for a bigger wave of cancellations/indefinite suspensions etc

More than likely, otherwise they'd announce the projects going ahead and then amidst the fanfare quietly announce the canceled ones.

Ireland will sadly fall further behind in the infrastructure stakes. Dublin will become a less and less attractive place for people to work and we'll find it harder and harder to attract FDI or the skilled workers needed to generate decent tax revenues.

thomasj

Marathon Man wrote: »

Well the first thing one would expect from a minister is that they practice what they preach. A health minister should ideally be healthy for a start (think Mary Harney ), and it would help to be a doctor who has an in-depth knowledge of the system.
The train is a classless mode of transport. What I'm referring to is the dirty, possibly smoke-filled Dublin buses or potential ruffian filled luas.
And yes I see Leo on the top deck of the 78A every morning

i used to see joan burton on the (old) 39a heading into work the odd morning!

and irrespective of what type of public transport varadkar uses it is still public transport and a popular form in west dublin/dublin 15!

dowlingm

CIE wrote: »

What folly? Only folly is the M18. But it seems that only in Ireland is the greater taxpayer expenditure cheered on, as well as the one that spews out the greater sulphur emissions

CIE - I dread to think what the SO2 per passenger carried of a 110 seat 2 car 2700 set is north of Ennis, and worse still if a 200 seat 22K is beetling along there in low gear instead.