More carparking spaces in Drogheda train station is a bad idea.

Mar 9, 2010 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

In 2006, 58.15% of people in Drogheda were in employment, 7.67% were unemployed, 8.10% were students, 5.10% were unable to work due to health issues and 10.11% were retired. A large percentage of those in work are commuting to Drogheda as verified by the Drogheda Borough development plan 2005. I highlight this to give some idea of the sheer number of people availing of the services provided by Irish rail.
Figures obtained from: http://www.towns-ireland.com/category/commuting/

In the development plan for Drogheda Borough written in 2005 and updated in September 2009, the need for public transport was referenced a number of times. The need for sustainable and scalable public transport options were defined as a high priority and it seemed from the report that it was recognized that it was the only sustainable method of catering for the acknowledged increasing level of traffic on Drogheda’s roads.
Information obtained from: http://www.louthcoco.ie%2Fdownloads%2FReports%2FDevelopmentPlans%2FDBCDevPlan2011-2015%2FDrogheda%2520Managers%2520Report.pdf&rct=j&q=percentage+of+commuters+drogheda&ei=GeKQS-7tKcSOjAfg_ImCCw&usg=AFQjCNGtsz12JpfSlpo2gnHScdNDj0sm8A Page 25 and 26.

I was therefore shocked to see in an article in the Drogheda independent dated Wednesday 3rd March 2010 reporting that Irish rail had been given planning permission to construct a new car park on the Marsh road to cater for an extra one hundred parking spaces. Surely the existing congestion on the Dublin road, the Marsh road and Poor house lain is proof enough that even the current amount of traffic generated by the train station is not sustainable.
Source of article: http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/news/extra-parking-for-rail-station-2086898.html

In place of constructing more car parking spaces I propose an expansion of the public transport system in Drogheda to include servicing the train station. A bus running regularly to and from the train station would I believe be preferable to most over using a car and would provide a number of benefits to Irish rail and Drogheda Borough council. these benefits also comply with current transport 2021 ambitions for Dublin city including:

• Sustainable: Less congestion on main roads at peak times.
• Greener: more environmentally friendly.
• Scalable: As the demand for trains increases so too can the frequency of the connecting public transport.
• Cost effective: The running cost of feeder busses servicing both the bus and train station will increase the attractiveness of both forms of public transport.

Drogheda would not be the first to use public transport in conjunction with feeder busses to enhance the accessibility of commuter services. Limerick, Cork, Connolly, Huston, and even smaller stations such as Clontarf in Dublin utilize public transport to reduce the dependency for passengers on private transport.

Taking Clontarf in Dublin as the primary example of how such a system works, A feeder bus running every 15 minutes during peak times services both the local business park and the station. IN addition to this, a number of Dublin bus services including the 104 and the 130 regularly service the station and stop in local areas. As a result, the car park in Clontarf station is very small in comparison to that currently used in Drogheda. Furthermore, even during peak times, the Clontarf and the Alphy Byrne roads both accessible from the train station are not hindered by the very high volume of people who avail of this service.

I would hope that instead of compounding the issues that Drogheda experiences every day in relation to road congestion the people responsible for this decision seriously consider my proposal.

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