Campaign to see fairer fares for east Meath commuters on the right track

There has been huge support for the ‘Fairer Fares’ campaign in east Meath with 20 per cent of submissions to the public consultation on the Draft Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area, supporting the campaign.

Cllr Sharon Tolan has said she’s delighted with the response to her recent ‘Fairer Fares’ campaign and says the National Transport Authority cannot ignore it with that level of submissions.

She has been calling for a restructure of the fare on the Northern Line from Dublin to Drogheda, which includes Laytown, for a number of years and ramped up her campaign ahead of the public consultation.

“I am absolutely delighted to have got support from Ministers, MEPS, TD’s, fellow Councillors and most importantly the public,” Cllr Tolan stated. Tolan launched her campaign with a series of advertisements and videos encouraging the public to get involved, make a submission and have their voices heard. She posted a series of videos on social media with Minister Helen McEntee at Gormanston train station, Minister Damien English at Navan train station, Cllr Niamh Souhan at Enfield train station and others at Drogheda, Laytown and Skerries.

“I really want to thank the public and our public representatives for getting involved in this campaign and ensuring a large number of submissions were made. It is so important that the NTA listen to the public and don’t ignore this important issue any longer. If they are serious about addressing climate action and encouraging the public to use public transport, then they must make it affordable sooner rather than later. They cannot continue to ignore the fact that we have empty trains and carriages from Drogheda, Laytown and Gormanston that only start to fill up from the first short hop zone station in Balbriggan. People from Drogheda and East Meath should be able to use their local stations at an affordable fare and I will keep fighting for us this until it is delivered,” the councillor concluded.

Over 80 submissions of a total of just over 500 were directly supporting her ‘Fairer Fares’ Campaign.