IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has released its chosen route for the proposed new line from Dunboyne to Navan in Co Meath.
Services from Dublin to Dunboyne are scheduled to get under way later this year on a spur from the Maynooth line at Clonsilla and serving Hansfield, Dunboyne and an M3 interchange/ park-and-ride site, to be known as the M3 Parkway.
The proposed extension to Navan would, according to the chosen route, mostly utilise the alignment of the old Navan railway line which closed in 1963.
It envisages a route from the M3 Parkway to a stop west of Dunshaughlin, followed by a stop on the western end of Kilmessan, crossing the Boyne river three times before approaching Navan from the southeast and having two stations, at Navan South and Navan North.
Later this month Iarnród Éireann and its contractors will begin geotechnical surveys along the route to assist in the design process. Station and bridge design works have already commenced.
According to the original Transport 21 timetable, the opening of the line to the M3 Parkway is about one year late, while the railway line to Navan was scheduled to open by 2015.
CIÉ and Iarnród Éireann chairman Dr John Lynch said progress with the line was evidence that the company was continuing to use Government investment in the railways to create a “world-class public transport infrastructure” for commuters across the country.
“After opening Cork-Midleton and Limerick-Galway in recent months, and with Clonsilla-Dunboyne M3 opening later this year, the M3-Navan railway order process sees the next stage of the expansion of our network and rail services continue that momentum,” he said.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey welcomed the announcement, saying it was “another significant milestone in the provision of a railway line to Navan.
“This is a project I have championed for many years. It is great news for the people of Navan and Co Meath,” he said.
However, there was a more sceptical response from Rail Users Ireland which expressed doubt that the line would ultimately receive Government funding.
“It is good that Irish Rail is pushing ahead with the planning but this is very unlikely to happen by 2015,” a spokesman for the rail users group said
Iarnród Éireann said the railway order application – essentially planning permission – would be made next year.
