Rail fares proving very unfair to the many commuters living in the East Meath area
THE Short Hop Zone (SHZ) rail prices, which presently operate as far as Balbriggan, won’t be extended to Laytown, Gormanston or even Drogheda, the National Transport Authority has said.
Cllr Stephen McKee asked for the extension as Naas/Sallins and Kilcock had been brought into the zone.
But the NTA said that was due to the fact that Balbriggan was in the zone already and is 35km from the city. The Co Kildare stations were less than 35km and hadn’t been included until the latest fare determination. They say they’ll lose up to €1m as a result of the move.
But for Cllr McKee, the volume of people using public transport in Co Meath should be given specific consideration.
‘We have the highest proporation of people in the country leaving the county for work each morning. The numbers in Gormanston station are down because people are going to Balbriggan and clogging it up.’
Cllr Sharon Tolan agreed. ‘For people to pay three times more than Balbriggan, nine minutes away, is ludicrous in this day and age. It puts extra costs on people. We need to fight this corner and need to push buttons on restructuring.’
Cllr Eimear Ferguson said it needed to be extended and she explained a family member and her daughter were charged €22 for a ticket from Drogheda to Laytown.
‘ This is an old chestnut and we’ve been trying it for years,’ Cllr Tom Kelly remarked. He said submissions were ‘rejected every time’, despite the fact that Laytown to Balbriggan and Balbriggan to Dublin were the same price.
The NTA, in a previous letter to the council, said that the boundary between the commuter and inter city areas had to start somewhere.