The latest survey of the old railway line linking Navan with Dublin has been described by the Meath on Track campaign as a "smoke and mirrors" tactic to delay its reinstatement for commuter services.
According to the group, much of the information needed to bring the former Navan rail line towards the stage of making a railway order is already available to officials in the Department of Transport from previous surveys over the past eight years.
The current "scoping study", announced last February, is focusing on route selection and delivery timescales, issues which the group insists have already been examined by earlier studies, including a full survey carried out by Iarnród Éireann in 1998.
A second report by consultants Ove Arup in 2000 examined a number of possible routes between Dublin and Navan, including the original railway alignment between Clonsilla and Navan, which was closed in 1963, and a deviation to Ashbourne.
The report recommended that the rail link to Navan should follow the original alignment via Dunboyne, Drumree and Kilmessan. One of the reasons given was that "buy back" clauses were part of the terms of sale when the land was sold off in the 1960s.
More importantly, as Meath on Track noted, reinstating the original alignment would make use of its surviving infrastructure, including numerous stone bridges. The bridge over the river Boyne at Bective has been used as a farm access route.
Despite the various reports and a government announcement in 1998 that the Navan line would be reopened within five years, followed by another in 2001 that it would be reinstated in 2010, the project was cancelled following the 2002 general election.
According to Meath on Track spokesman Proinsias Mac Fhearghusa, there are renewed signs that Navan may be no nearer to achieving a reinstatement of its rail link to Dublin than it was before the Transport 21 announcement of last November.
He noted that the Department of Transport had recently updated its Transport 21 website, giving 2015 as the delivery date. However, this statement is now qualified with the words: "Subject to further studies, it is proposed to extend the rail line to Navan."
Mr Mac Fhearghusa said an even greater cause for concern was a recent interview given by Dick Fearn, Iarnród Éireann's chief executive, in which he said the railway "could be extended to Navan" rather than stating it would be delivered.
"Our fear is that the new ambiguity . . . indicates that a rail link to Navan is by no means certain," he said. "The reality is that until such time as the Navan rail link is moved towards railway order stage, there is no guarantee that it will be delivered."
However, an Iarnród Éireann spokesman said the latest study could even help shorten the timescale. "This is a positive initiative and certainly not a delaying tactic," he added. "If we were interested in delaying things, we'd be sitting on our hands."
