[Thomas J Stamp]

I thought Thomas S had gone on holidays!!! As Derek says the debate on boardfs on this is for all intents and purposes over and I posted what the P11 policy is and that basicly boils down to that phase one will open, fair enough, it'll shift an apprecable amoutnof people, the rest is off of a John Hynde postcard. What Derek has done and what Thomas S has been doing on boards is the most credible endoresement of our position - they have actually gone and looked at it. When it is built and when there is a lousy service on it the passengers will be more than welcome to come to us about it, because that is what we are here for. The day that it is perfect is the day we will gladly retire.

This last point is one that differenciates P11 from the, erm, trainspotters groups. Believe it or not one poster over on boards has even critisied us for going and looking at the ground where the new LUAS extension will go in South Dublin, for looking at the route of the WRC on the ground and also for comparing then with the Navan rail link. But if we dont passengers are the ones that suffer if a staion is placed in the wrong area, if a house is needlessly demolished or a garden truncated, or if the wrong length of tram is used, there are plenty of others.

Sometimes I think Thomas S. goes ott a bit but he has every right to do so, he is "an independant bigmouth not associated with any group" and I hope he still reads our board but I do understand why he gets so pissed off with UK trainspotters endorsing the entire WRC just because they want an old line reopened while the money for it - €500million dont forget - could re-open Navan or buy a load of commuter railcars and DARTs which helps you, yes you, get home in comfort and at a social hour.

In many cases the "arguments" for the entire WRC come after the desire to open it, when it ought to be the other way around. Just in case any IRN heads wish to debate that point why dont you do what Derek has done, go over there ask the locals, see what they say. At the end of the day the UK trainspotter brigade wont have to pay for this for years into the future, we will.