May 12 2009
Desperation In Green
In recent weeks, the DART has been getting quieter and quieter. It’s strange. This time last year the train filled rapidly at Greystones and people were forced to stand by the time we were leaving Bray Station. Whereas today, and especially yesterday, this 8.30am DART is less than 50% capacity as we depart Greystones and Bray has to added much to the mix.
Ok, some of it can be put down to the kids studying for exams and such, some of it can be put down to people taking their summer holidays, but a drop as dramatic as this is very scary – are job losses really gone this bad?
A taxi driver told Lottie last week that he can see a definite decline in traffic over the past 6 months. Even Rick has photographic evidence of the drop in train travelling numbers.
ESRI says it’s going to get a lot worse before it improves, with unemployment hitting over 16% next year. Can it get much worse?
Pretty sure it’s the dreaded economy. I’ve been finding my commute to work getting quicker and quicker. It used to take my forty minutes and now it’s only twenty.