There is a difference between those who like to travel and those who like the transport
12 February 2007
Some of us like to travel and some of us like transport. There can be conflict between the two groups but global warming may help cohesion between them.
We needed to go to Cork to see a relation in hospital. The transport-loving person told me it was an ideal time to give the 55-year-old Tatra "a bit of a run". Seeing that the last run we had taken in this vehicle had ended in Kilmacanogue I dug my feet in and said it was not reliable enough in which to go on an act of corporate mercy. This was received very badly.
The 55-year-old Tatra has a stable companion, a 15-year-old of even more dubious reliability as far as I am concerned. (I know why the Czech company Tatra went out of business - its cars frequently don't go!) There are two heaters in this car, one German, one Czech - has anyone ever heard of bi-national heaters in a car? One is useless and the other has "a cavitation problem". On a cold February day I was not in favour of a Cork trip in it, no matter how improved the road.
There was another problem, the milometer, or I suppose, seeing that it is a continental left-hand-drive car a "kilometre-meter" had an intermittent fault and he hadn't worked out the cause yet. "Actually, the speedometer is working but the sender unit in the gear box is obviously the problem." I agreed. The speedometer is obsolete and there is apparently no hope of getting another unless we go personally to the former eastern block!
Since I didn't want to drive, what was the matter with the new improved train service, every hour on the hour from Dublin and back on the half hour from Cork? He had just started reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian and this helped me in my argument. It is a most amusing book and very relevant to those who like transport.
On Saturday morning it took only minutes to get to Heuston Station, park the car and get the tickets. The new trains are magnificent, elegant livery, comfortable seats, plenty of room, not the usual standing situation.
Off we set but the transport person immediately discovered a problem - the glass doors between the carriages would not close. Inspections were carried out, various override buttons were considered (me begging him to leave them alone because the fines were hefty) and the ticket inspector consulted. The ticket inspector thought maybe things were different on the continent, the trains had come from Spain.
The ticket inspector and I discussed the possibilities of opening the Cork-Middleton line in the near future while transport person kept at the open-door problem. I wanted to ingratiate myself with the ticket inspector because the whole outing was beginning to remind me of a scene on a jumbo jet some years ago.
Transport person and I were going to New York. Aer Lingus cabin staff are noted for their politeness and ability to deal with the general public. Transport person found there was a problem with his arm rest - it did not function properly. He told the young lady minding our area about this and said that he had a particular interest in machinery maintenance. "When I see a problem like this," he said, "I begin to think about the hydraulics and how they are." By this time other passengers in our area were testing their arm rests, looking for life jackets, etc. Young lady fled and returned with big cheese of cabin crew who said to transport person: "There is no connection between your arm rest and the hydraulics in this plane. Do you understand?"
These were magic words to transport/maintenance person. It gave him the chance to give a dissertation on the maintenance of machinery in Ireland. I was afraid we'd be put off the plane by an attack of air-rage in a member of the cabin crew!
Back on the train the ticket inspector and I were getting on really well and we sped along despite the open doors. Then transport person discovered a screw on the carpet beside him. He then found the hole in the panel out of which the screw had fallen and put it back. I was asked if I had a Phillips screw driver on me and I knew was considered even more of a failure in maintenance than usual because I did not have one in my hand bag. The screw had to remain untightened.
The journey down was excellent but on the return we were delayed for a while in Cork. Foolishly, I asked the Cork station master what was the problem - a pipe needed to be tightened, he said - I restrained transport maintenance person but felt badly about doing so, he'd have enjoyed helping so much. We made up the time on the journey back and I would strongly recommend the service. The doors between the carriages worked on the return trip.
One has to look after the maintenance on one's own vehicles but is it really necessary to get involved in public transport as well? A short list could be made and sent to the engineering section of the company in question but this hands on approach is a bit nerve wrecking.
The cat is truly out of the bag regarding global warming and from a medical point of view this may not be all bad. We'll have to walk more which will help our blood sugars and keep our joints moving.
But not all our public transport is as good as that of the Cork-Dublin train. A suggestion was made recently by Deputy Mary Upton that there should be real-time announcements at the bus stops in Dublin. At least we have bus shelters at most bus stops but like so many other cities in Ireland one never really knows when the next bus actually will come.
I hope members of the health professions would add their voices to all those who would like to see improvements in public transport here and more people using it. In view of the fact that not only is it better for the world it is better for the person. Certainly in areas where it is available on a regular, reliable basis it is very popular - look at the DART and Luas in Dublin.
Back to my conversation with the ticket inspector on the Cork train, why is the re-opening to the Cork-Middleton line taking so long? What about the similar situation between Tuam and Galway? And what great opportunities there could be for transport person to become involved in an entirely voluntary basis?
Senator Mary Henry, MD
