Most countries that went through boom times spent a lot on infrastructure such as public transport, roads, public buildings etc. Not Ireland. Considering how they had 10-15 great years, the state of public transport is appalling.
I commute in every day from north County Dublin, a train ride of about 40 minutes. Three separate services use the two tracks (one for each direction). There is the DART system extending as far north as Malahide, the Commuter Rail system as far as Drogheda and Dundalk, and then the full intercity system, with trains heading north to Belfast and beyond. You'd think with those three services sharing the one track each way they'd figure out some good timing system. It's especially critical as the DART stops at every station. But no. The number of times the commuter train gets stuck behind the slow moving DART is crazy.
But hey, at least I live on a train line. Most commuters are stuck with the dreaded Dublin Bus system, with an indecipherable schedule, crappy website, strange system of fares, and surly drivers.
Today I stood in Pearse Station and read a poster that made me shake my head in frustration. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday, but also a day when a huge number of people will be heading into the city centre for a bit of fun. The poster even warns this will be a busy day for transport. So, what do they do? Put on extra trains? Keep the trains running late into the night? No, the bright sparks at Irish Rail are announcing that day will only offer Sunday service, which means a 2 hour gap between trains, and the last train leaving the city at about 9 pm. Unbelievable.
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