Wicklow Sinn Féin TD John Brady has expressed his disappointment at the insistence of the National Transport Authority (NTA) to continue with its planned disruption of rail services to Wicklow in order to carry out maintenance work on the Dun Laoghaire to Greystones DART line and made a further appeal to the NTA to reconsider their approach. The NTA responded to Brady following several communications to say that they intend to continue with their policy of carrying out remedial work on the rail line during daytime weekend hours over the summer, and into the Autumn, a period which will cover what is the height of the tourism season for Wicklow. A decision which will impact on Wicklow businesses looking to capitalise on the added visitors to the county, not to mention those that rely on rail services to commute to work at the weekends.
Brady said:
“I am deeply disappointed that the NTA would not take the time to reconsider their current approach which is actively impacting on the tourist and business economy of our county.
While we all understand that repairs and remedial work must be carried out on the rail line, and that public safety comes before all else, I have to repeat the question to the NTA and ask why this work cannot be carried out at nighttime.
I do however acknowledge the efforts that were made to provide transport capacity over last weekend to cater for the visitors to the Bray Air Show. This was a welcome development, but also illustrates the transport demands in Wicklow both for tourism, and for those who have to commute to work at the weekend.
This is a challenging time for businesses here in Wicklow, and they must be afforded every opportunity to capitalise on the influx of visitors who wish to visit our county. And the failure of the NTA to take this into account is actively impacting our economy.
I would like once more to appeal to the NTA to take these factors into consideration and commence their operations at nighttime. A decision which will have the least impact on struggling businesses in the county.