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Derry-Belfast rail line problems due to neglect and lack of investment

Monday 30th January 2006

This morning's problems on the Derry-Belfast rail line arise from deliberate neglect and lack of investment.

In the first instance, Translink management has to shoudler the blame. But ultimate responsibility lies with the politicans and top civil servants running the Depatment of Regional Development.

We are short of trains, short of train drivers and short of a proper track. This is a question of political will and resources.

We need around 120 drivers to operate the present time-table---more to operate the sort of time-table Into The West would like to see and which would attract many more travellers. At present, there are fewer than a hundred drivers available.

Drivers are mainly recruited from conductors, who in turn tend to come from the ranks of porters. What's needed is a major recruitment drive generally---which would require a long-term commitment to developing the network.

There are 23 new trains on the network at the moment, delivered last year. Into The West whole-heartedly welcomed this provision. But every rail worker knows we need at least 40 new trains to deliver the level of comfort and reliability passengers are entitled to expect. The fact that three of the five coaches on this morning's Belfast train were unheated makes the point.

After an energetic campaign by Into The West and others, the DRD agreed in December 2004 to provide £23.6 million to maintain the Derry-Ballymena stretch of the line. This work hasn't started---although we have an explicit commitment from management for this year. We will be watching this closely. But what we had campaigned for was not merely maintenance of the existing track, but for a new, continuously-welded track to be laid. In other words, we want the same treatment as on Belfast-Bangor or Belfast-Dublin. This would cost around £40 million---£17 million more than for maintenancde only. In the context of development plans already announced, this isn't a fortune. It was striking that the new plan for the development of the north west unveiled by Peter Hain two months ago included a motorway to Dungiven. This was promised even though there was no indication of where the money would come from, how many people would be displaced or what the impact on the environment would be. But there wasn't a word about the upgrading of our rail link. Even more worrying, there was virtually no comment on the fact that rail had been virtually ignored. The unacceptable difficulties faced by passengers this morning reflect these broader and more long-term factors. Into The West will continue to fight to ensure that these circumstances aren't allowed to continue.





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