Navan Rail Line

The line (orange line on the left) is already being diverted to run closer to Dunshaughlin in Option A, and development (Dun Rioga on the map) near the line is underway not even a kilometre away (according to Google Earth). I wouldn’t describe it as having to build a “new town.”

I really wouldn't underestimate Navan ridership. There is a lot going for it, and there are a few things I don't think has been mentioned.

The first big change that will more generally see increased numbers from last year is the new fare zones. Comparing Navan to Drogheda as two of our largest towns and at similar distance (although different fare zones), the price of rail fares was halved earlier this year. Drogheda already had about 3.5K passengers a year (Boardings+Alightings) and we have yet to see how much that may have increased with the PSO bus and train fares now being less than a euro difference, and the train also previously being more expensive than some of the private coaches. While I don't expect it to have doubled or any massive increase like that, I am hoping it will see a noticeable bump in numbers, possibly to over 4K a day.

Another thing Navan will have going for it is the second station within the town. Where almost every other large town the Dublin commuter network has just 1 station, previous IÉ proposals have placed 2 in Navan, with the second being at the start of the Kingscourt Greenway. This will hopefully make a massive difference in the direct catchment and allow for more transport-oriented development in the northern part of Navan and would likely increase the numbers by a significant amount in the long term.

Also in regards to Dunshaughlin and somewhat by extension Ratoath and Ashbourne, all three towns have seen massive population growth in recent years and it really shows the need for more transport-oriented development in the area. I think there really needs to be some intervention to support more growth in Dunshaughlin and maybe also western Ratoath, so that way newer development can have better access to a railway station. Whereas on the current track Ashbourne is on its way to becoming Navan 2.0 or Swords 2.0, large towns which have far outgrown the bus services and need a higher capacity intervention.

it's a lot longer of a journey via that route then it would be via going the navan m3 parkway clonsilla route.

then they would use that service as an excuse not to implement the necessary full reopening from m3 parkway.

I'm not sure about that route. The perks of the old route include pretty much zero land works and the farms are already split. In this route, land would probably still have to be CPO'd before the M3 was crossed, a lot more surveys, etc. would need to be carried out for the new alignment and the curve into Navan would also be quite tight.

Google street view from 2009:

And satellite imagery from 2010:

It's quite tucked away but it is there, so I imagine it should be used.

Great to see there are public photos available. I have several photos that found there way to me but strictly not for public visibility

The powers that be will go with the old alignment because it's easy to spin it as something which might happen but it'll quickly run into lots of issues which will drag on for years. For politicians, it's short term gain with built-in arse-covering for failure to deliver.

I don't think they mean the line should serve all 3 towns but that it should go East of Dunshaughlin and that would serve Ratoath also.

They're maybe 6kms apart as the crow flies.

Not possible to serve Ashbourne but that basically has its own motorway so not necessary.

We really went nuts on Motorways in the 00s.

I bet loads like the M2 are way under capacity.

Only issue with a branch is that the M3 line is already a branch as things stand… a branch line off of a branch line is not great for capacity.

Now that said, after the Maynooth - Adamstown link is constructed, the only trains on the Western line will be the 12 DARTs per hour in each direction, 8 of which will serve Maynooth and 4 of which will serve M3. Presumably all of these would be continued on to Navan once the line is finished, but 12 trains an hour on a segregated alignment all the way to Connolly/Spencer Dock/Pearse is quite comfortable so arguably, IF a branch was made to Ratoath/Ashbourne, theoretically, it could get another 3/4 trains an hour. I’m not agreeing with this as an idea but it is technically feasible once services beyond Maynooth are removed from the Western line.

On the subject of frequency, do we think that all 4 M3 DARTs will continue to Navan? And if so (in a post DU X-shaped running pattern) would all of them continue as DARTs all the way through to Bray? Or would the Navan services operate as surplus to the 4 DARTs an hour, and operate only to SD/Connolly, and leave the 12 DARTs from the Western Line continue to Bray?

On the Ashbourne note, I feel it is best left served by a metro or even potentially a greenfield Luas Green Line extension, similar to in European cities where their trams run out beyond the suburbs for a few miles through open fields to connect slightly farther out towns that don’t warrant their own heavy rail. The Luas would run like heavy rail out here though, 100kph (if the new Alstom Citadis trams that can do so are used) and could feature multiple stations in Ashbourne as well as a Park and Ride to the north.

Finally, just my tuppence worth on the route, but would it be feasible or likely to head directly north after M3 and serve the southwest of Ratoath with a station off the Fairyhouse Road (R155) and then curve northeastward to serve Dunshaghlin at the northeast of the town with a station off the Grange Park Rd (R125)? Where the station is to the edge of the town in these places, the town could be built out towards the station, encouraging even more development and opening up the land either side of the railway on the fringes of these towns, while still being very accessible from the town centre.

The line would then continue north to Navan following the M3 without having to cross it again, (farms are already split by the motorway, so if the railway hugs it closely enough, there isn’t too much CPO issue) to enter the town from the south on the old alignment, with a new station behind the hospital after joining the Tara/Kells/Oldcastle line and finally would branch north on the stub of the old Kingscourt line for a Navan North station. Is this an alignment that makes sense or is it too tight or indirect.

In reality it’s not actually any less direct than the current route, but even still, I do think there is enough to be said for the train not having to take the most direct alignment. As countless studies have shown, what passengers want is not necessarily the quickest route, but one that is frequent (every 15 minutes is incredible) and consistently reliable (same journey time all day, most unlike the car and bus) so the route could get away with serving more places at a slight time penalty, but maybe this route is a bit too much price wise, given it will almost be entirely brand new… Thoughts?

My point about Ashbourne is more how the population has exploded in the area over the last hundred years or so. Ashbourne is an incredible example, barely a village and now a motorway bypasses it. See a link below where you can overlay the 1910 map with todays. The same goes for Ratoath and Dunshaughlin. Mere villages then and now large and still growing towns.

The rail route that was built in the 1800's was built in very different context. The Ireland of the 21st century is very different and has different needs. The rail route should reflect that.

https://www.dublinhistoricmaps.ie/maps/1940-1999/index.html