Dear Editor,
It has become increasingly clear how challenging the journey home can be for socialisers in Dublin, especially over busy weekends. I’ve monitored multiple media reports on this persistent issue but disappointingly, none suggested an obvious potential remedy: extending the operating hours of the Dart beyond 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
Contrary to what is typical in other capital cities worldwide – that is, running later trains on weekends – this concept appears to be extraordinarily far-fetched for Dublin. Even with the Dart’s single-line system, which is admittedly less complex than many urban railways found in other countries, implementing just a few extra services until around 1am could spare many late-night socialisers the inconvenience of aimlessly hunting for taxis.
The fact that even such a modest proposal has not yet been suggested reflects the remarkably low standards we’ve come to expect from our public transportation systems. Regrettably, it seems Irish Rail administrators and analogous transport authorities have no plans to alter these standards.
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Quinn,
Clongriffin,
Dublin 13.