Navan Rail Line

Good to see some progress on the Navan Line. I am glad they have finally had some reason compared to the last report. Higher frequency, electrification, and an alignment that gets into Dunshaughlin.

I am disappointed with the proposed station access though. As @cgcsb mentions it looks bad at first glance. Hopefully, as the design is refined for PC2 there will be some improvements. I wonder if the current proposal is just testing the waters to see how people feel about the stations in the first place. There is unfortunately many people who believe better active travel access means crime (the N3 bus priority scheme is a good recent example), so this may just be them trying to avoid problems from those groups.

Also, something interesting I noticed reading through the options selection report, is that one of the reasons for the west Dunshaughlin station is that they believe it will much better support future densification of the town. Now it wasn't the only problem with the east alignment, there were some potential problems with water/flooding as well as a gas main. However, I thought it was an interesting argument for the west alignment.

It is great to see this move a step further. As a country we need to be aspirational when it comes to public transport projects. We have the motorways built for the most part. They are done, we don't need to build them again. Everyone can see the benefits of having them.

Now we need to realise that Dublin and the GDA is continuing to grow a pace. Ask anyone who uses the seriously over subscribed buses from Navan and Meath towns, how poor that service is. They are crying out for improvements. The M3 just becomes a slam into a wall of traffic as you cross the County bound into Dublin. It is anyone's guess how long it could take you (at various times of the day / week, not just AM peak).

People look at the "cost" of these things. We are investing in capital assets. This is not a cost, but rather an economic driver, an investment and a state asset. These are exactly the projects we should be getting behind. There is huge scope for these towns to help balance the housing situation in this country.

Having a rail line that will connect into other DART services to Maynooth and IC services to Mullingar, Longford and Sligo, DART into Blanchardstown, the luas green line to city centre, Finglas, Dundrum and Cherrywood, the Metro, bus connects at Glasnevin and right into the CBD of our capital city, will unlock huge potential for this corridor.

It may take the Maynooth/Adamstown link to make the Navan line feasible from a financial point of view, as the reduction in inter-city can increase the frequency of suburban.

Absolutely. But when will we see that development?

I agree! I really hope that Dunshaughlin can densify, and especially if it can slow down the insane growth of more car centric towns likes Ashbourne. However, I am a bit concerned at the moment that pedestrian/cyclist accessibility to the station might be a bit bad.

I am really hoping that when the more finalised designs are announced (likely for PC2) that they will be better designed for active travel access. Additionally, I am hoping that there would be a proper bus interchange designed for it with a Rotoath/Dunshaughlin bus service, something similar to Bray.

I am a bit concerned this station is going to end up a bit like Skerries station, which while a great travel option for the town, isn't well integrated to the town or its bus services. I just want to see a Dunshaughlin station with good pedestrian/cyclist permeability and a good bus interchange.

Kilmessan is also about 10km from Trim, which already has a 5000+ population.

”Begrudge” Navan with a high frequency, high capacity rail service straight to Dublin City Centre with some of the best public transport connections available in the country on the way???

Are you just never happy…??

You are also just making up numbers with no research, to suit your narrative. You just pulled a figure out of the air and decided that’s how much the project will cost!

Lads it’s negativity like this that’s almost as bad as all the NIMBYs that object to these things - have a little bit of faith and maybe be grateful that we are finally seeing a series of rolling projects coming on stream all of which will increase the amount of cars that we take off the roads.

This really might be the golden age of rail resurgence - be happy and have a bit of faith!

I had a look through the indicative plans and the interactive GIS map (a nice touch) and I’m not sure I can fully see where people are coming from with regard to the stations having no throughput… Dunshaughlin certainly looks like there’ll be entrances on both sides like CACR, with the P&R to the M3 side and the village to the other…

Are we also 100% certain that the line will be doubled the whole way? I mean surely right…? The route boundary gets a good bit narrower after it crosses the Navan Link Road and rejoins the original alignment (see first image), and even narrower again when it joins the Drogheda Line and heads north along the old Kingscourt Line (see second image).

Is this maybe just because there is less work needed due to the alignments being existing/preexisting? I’d like to hope they aren’t considering building nearly all of it double track only to single the final home stretch…

Agreed. Not to mention they should be looking to increase the populations of dunshaughlin and Navan. This is important infrastructure for future population growth. Hopefully someday they'll extend to kells.

I'd presume the railway up to Navan Central will be double-tracked but considering the listed bridge over the Blackwater is only wide enough for one track that part probably won't be double-tracked.

I was always convinced the line was double track the entire way, but it wasn't, so there will likely be a good bit of widening of the alignment needed

Looking at Geohive, it was double track to Drumree only.

Ireland in 2026.

"Wahwahwah rural Ireland is DEAD. The goberment have abandoned us".

Infrastructure announced to make rural areas sustainable.

"Wahwahwah rural Ireland is too small for Infrastructure development"