Sir, – I was pleased to read of Iarnród Éireann’s FourNorth project (“Billion-euro expansion will double number of tracks on busiest rail line,” July 24th). After many years of underinvestment in our rail network, this is welcome news.
I hope some of the money will be spent on the basics – chief among them, telling passengers where they are. As an occasional Dart user, I often find myself unsure – it must be quite a challenge for visitors.
Station name signs are placed intermittently along the platform rather than continuously, as on the London Underground, so unless your carriage happens to stop opposite one, you can be left guessing.
Worse still, the head of the train routinely stops beyond the last sign, so if you’re in the front carriage you must identify the station by its shrubbery.
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On board, the next station is announced just once – not always audibly – and appears only fleetingly on a small digital screen otherwise given over to the train’s final destination.
If you are momentarily distracted, hard of hearing or have poor eyesight, you are stumped.
These are small matters beside new track and carriages, but they are what daily passengers – and visitors forming their first impressions of Ireland – actually notice. When it comes to infrastructure, why are we always laggards and never leaders? – Yours, etc,
ALAN COX,
Howth,
Dublin 13.
