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1st December 2015 • Volume 22, Issue 42 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. EirCode: K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Calls To Make Your Voices Heard Transport Minister, Paschal Donohoe has announced changes to the rail and Dart services, which is claimed will have a beneficial effect for North County train commuters.
By Patrick Finnegan Plans for earlier trains and extra services are among the proposals that have been published, as part of a public consultation process, geared
towards overhauling some of the busiest rail services, much of which operate in the North County region. The new proposals for 2016 are specifically for timetables of services that use Connolly Station, and also include plans to run Dart trains every 10 minutes on weekdays. The proposed move will see an earlier start for the Malahide line, beginning at 5.50am, as opposed to its current starting time of 6.30am. People from the commuter areas of the North County however, feel that the changes only benefit Malahide, Portmarnock and the Dart stations towards the city. Services from Dundalk will also be increased in frequency, and a new express service is being proposed which would depart from Dundalk at 7.55am and serve Drogheda 25 minutes later en route to the capital. The morning train to Dublin from Belfast will also stop in Dundalk at the earlier time of 7.30am and in Drogheda at 7.54am.
Milverton Off Road MotorCycle Club Awards night was held in the Milestone Inn Balbriggan recently. The event proved to be a great success. Pictured here are all the local winners on the night
The minister said this move came “in response to the greater demand that is there for public services,” and would be made possible by Dublin’s new signalling project which was announced as part of the Government’s Capital Plan. Balbriggan based General Election candidate, Tony Murphy was not impressed by the Government’s plans. He highlighted key points on service to Balbriggan and other North County stations. “There will be no increase in frequency in services, despite the current inadequate capacity at off-peak times, both travelling to and returning from Dublin. There will be longer gaps between times of trains going and the time between trains home around 4pm is currently 30 minutes. This will increase to one hour,” he said. He also highlighted changes to evening peak
trains would mean even greater overcrowding, i.e. the 17.13 train from Pearse Station will run 10 minutes later, and the 17.28 will run 15 minutes later. These changes will increase numbers on the earlier train and delay departure times of both trains. Continued on page 8
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Lusk Tidy Towns launched their Christmas Card and Calendar at Murray's Top Shop, Lusk on Friday, 20th November last. The launch was performed by local senator, Darragh O'Brien. Pictured on the night are, Albert Cruise, Paul Bird, Doris Steinbatz, Senator Darragh O'Brien, Pat Kelly, Chairperson of Lusk Tidy Towns and Cllr Brian Dennehy
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