Navan Rail Line

I agree with what has been so far that the western branches aren't really that comparable to the Northern line branches.

The M3 line could be made a shuttle service in the short term if the demand is there for extra services on either line, but when the Navan line opens that just wont be feasible.

The Maynooth line can't be made into a shuttle either, as L1011 has a very good point about the usage. During last year's census Maynooth alone had close to the same ridership as the whole Howth branch, and during the two years before that Maynooth actually exceeded Howth branch patronage. Additionally depending on where the depot is placed the DART may go as far as Kilcock, and after D+ there are plans to add another station or two to the line.

Additionally I think one of the reasons they haven't made M3 services shuttle services as a part of D+ is that there isn't terminal capacity on the Maynooth line for 10tph. Sure it might be possible to turn M3-Clonsilla into a shuttle service (and ideally increase frequency to 6tph like Howth shuttles) but then where would the 4tph otherwise terminating on the line go? Having all 10tph terminating at Maynooth may cause congestion or might just not be possible. And I don't believe either of the Leixlip stations have sidings or the space to add sidings to allow them to terminate there. They would have to be sent to Kilcock, and maybe if the DART is extended to Kilcock as a part of the D+ depot that will become an option, but at least at the time plans were first made that would not have been possible.

Looking more in the long term there are also a few other things to consider. A big problem with the Northern line is that the Howth branch would likely have to made into a shuttle service anyways when the Northern line is four-tracked. It would be far too difficult to cross a four-tracked line without killing capacity or causing massive congestion. Additionally an advantage the western line has is that because of the limited development around Clonsilla station, it could be possible to create a fly-over junction. This would practically eliminate congestion from the two lines merging, and would completely remove Clonsilla Jnc as a bottleneck.

The timeline for the RO is now 2027. Not a surprise but disappointing nonetheless considering this might delay the already unbelievable opening date of 2036.

Apparently in Q1 2026.

I'm not sure this is worth the cost.

The business case is likely to find that it is indeed worth the money.

Surely the most blatantly obvious train project in the country. I couldn't believe it when I heard Navan wasn't connected to the Dublin commuter network.

It has a motorway.

Bus will be cheaper and faster.

Poster is clearly just an anti PT troll.

having a motor way is not an argument against rail, using road as an argument was discredited as any sort of an argument decades ago.
the bus is not faster between navan and dublin and even with road upgrades which would be more expensive then rail that will remain the case.
as for cheaper, it will be for a user in terms of fares but that is meaningless really as that does not remove the need for rail either and there is also the need to dent car traffic.
navan and so on is beyond bus being able to be the only method of transport able to handle the demand no matter how much capacity you throw at it now and the increasing costs of road maintenence mean road transport has to be cut.
it's over, rail is needed and is going to have to happen, and it is going to have to be pushed hard for with no let up.

it's actually not a reasonable opinion, it's a bunch of discredited and outdated arguments that have been proven wrong decades ago.

arguments that have held back our whole public transport system for decades whether it be bus or rail or anything else.

Yep, don’t think it’s a done deal.

It’s about 30km from the end of the line at M3 Parkway to Navan with very little in the way of revenue generation along the way.

I’d be very interested to know how it could actually pass a CBA.

9th biggest city/town and the biggest with no train station.

Spend further billions to justify spending a billion on a rail line! It would be cheaper and more beneficial in every way to deviate to serve Dunshaughlin. The old alignment is gone, 90% will have to be bought back and it literally has to be rebuilt from scratch. Trying to reopen the Victorian route is going to end in failure.