My drive to get us back on public transport

PUBLIC transport is increasingly important. Hopping on a bus, or a LUAS, or a train, it’s so simple.

Yet people rely more on cars. It’s understandable; you can go at your own pace.

My parents are the same. Promises of ‘we will take the train now, it is easier’, fall flat.

Even though stats and figures show the prices of petrol and diesel have gone up, and fewer people are buying cars now than a few years ago, travelling on the M50, I still see loads of cars.

Compare that to entering a train carriage, where you’d be surprised if there were more than 15 people. I always wonder why that is?

Approximately, it would cost you €35 to go up to Dublin by car. Don’t forget to add on the €1.80 for the toll.

Compare that to a train ticket, which would cost you €60-€70. Scandalous.

Yet, then we get Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, proclaiming that the car industry is screwed.

My friend, you are overcharging people for their train tickets, never mind having a nervous breakdown over the car industry, which I do understand is in a crisis.

Personally, I would love to take public transport, but even though the hassle is minor, I would prefer for it to be hassle-free.

Going to the train station, telling them in advance I’m coming, and not to forget the ramp to facilitate my wheelchair, is a bit of a pain. I’m not a member of a world-famous girl band, but I don’t need to be telling security I’m arriving.

Same with the bus. I’d be delighted to take a bus to Cork City for a shopping trip, but getting in the door of the bus is a hassle.

We are living in the dark ages in Cork and Munster, but then we go up to Dublin and see the pretty Luas, the DART, and the nice buses.

Why must we be forgotten down here?

I know Cork City isn’t massive, but wouldn’t it be great to see people living in Bishopstown get to Douglas, like people from Crumlin get to places like Stephen’s Green, just by hopping on a LUAS?

We shouldn’t have to go everywhere by car.

We should be able to stroll onto the train or bus, or whatever, and not panic about overpriced train tickets or buses with monstrous high steps.

We shouldn’t have to be relying on our cars 24/7.

We should be abandoning them, what with pollution and everything. It’s time to start taking public transport, and driving forward into the future.