Scoping study published - insufficient funds for Navan

[Navan Junction]

This weeks Meath Chronicle

Wrong route with railway

(Editor, Meath Chronicle)

Dear sirs - So a senior Iarnrod Eireann manager has been removed from his post following his expressions of concern around the financial viability of reopening the railway from Pace to Navan (Meath Chronicle 19th Jan). Surely the real question however is why the group tasked with producing this report failed to recommend a route which could add in excess of 60 per cent to the catchment population of the line and so increase its viability. I`m speaking of the area to the east of the original alignment in South Meath, in particular the towns of Ratoath and Ashbourne. The combined population of these towns in the 2006 census was 15,777 persons in comparison to the 24,851 of Navan. With all public transport projects one of the primary concerns to the Department of Finance is not only the initial capital cost but the ongoing subvention levels required. In order to minimise that subvention it is necessary to maximise the railway`s catchment. If the railway is not to serve this area then it is difficult to see how it can be justified. Indeed a cheaper and more expedient solution using the freight-only branch from Drogheda should perhaps be re-examined.

Yours,
Mark Healy,
Alderbrook Heath,
Ashbourne.

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Meath Chronicle

Indeed a cheaper and more expedient solution using the freight-only branch from Drogheda

Who knows, might well come back to this at some point

But god knows IÉ are no more interested in this than the direct option

[Mark Gleeson]

As the reported showed demand from Navan is very sensitive extra 10 minutes would seriously impact numbers

The 55+ million extra of course kills it as there isnt enough for the direct route anyway

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

As the reported showed demand from Navan is very sensitive extra 10 minutes would seriously impact numbers

The 55+ million extra of course kills it as there isnt enough for the direct route anyway

BTW, that €55m was only to bring it into Dunshaughlin, not over to Ashbourne

[Derek Wheeler]

And that is down to the voters of the county. It's good sport debating whether he will or will not deliver, but at the end of the day he'll do what he has to do, and political form says polticians do no more than they have to.

That in itself is dangerous and can be attributed to many millions wasted/mis-spent over the years.

It just depends on what the commuters in Meath are prepared to settle for. The Blanch N3/M50 interchange will solve the problem of today, but one thing we know is that nature hates a vacuum and commuting patterns will change to eat that capacity up as quickly as possible.

You're right. But it will take many years to clog up the new N3/M50 interchange (construction starts next week) so how about we leave Navan's railway until say....2030? You can bet that what the current Government are thinking.

Fundamentally, what is wrong with the N3 Meath situation is that despite being the busiest bus corridor in Ireland, it is still basically a public transport wasteland.

Because of poorly planned residential development, that's rampant all over Ireland. Navan is by no means special.

The M50 upgrade will ease conjestion in the short term, but traffic volumes on the M50 will result in traffic cascading back onto the N3 again in the not too distant future after it opens, and traffic will continue to grow on the N3, partially from the return of all of the Navan/Kells/north Meath commuters that go on a mystery tour cross country to the N2 at the moment and partially through growth.

Either way, the railway has a future in Meath. We can take a snapshot of the day that the M50 upgrade is completed and the M3 opens. Of course everyone will think life is good on that day and for while after it.

But that changes, it always does when it comes to the bottlenecks around Dublin. Capacity won't last for long where the M50 and it's approaches are concerned.

It's not down to Dempsey whether this happens. It will happen because it has to happen. The question is when, and whether it is Dempsey that delivers it, or some other politician

That again is down to the people of Meath

I've one answer to all that.

2030

[Navan Junction]

I'm wouldn't argue with that - it could well be 2030, could be longer. I wouldn't even put a date on it. We had the 1998 annoucement, the 2001 announcement, and the 2005 announcement. And still nothing has happened 10 years on but another report.

One thing is certain - it won't be done anytime soon.

[Derek Wheeler]

And its a real shame that we have to think that. Shame on that whole bunch in Leinster house who haven't a clue and the conditioning they have inflicted on the likes of IE, RPA, DB and BE.

The Lambert puppet theatre (god bless them) aren't up to scratch, when compared to the biggest puppet show in Ireland....the one that has public transport puppets with longs strings stretching back to Kildare street.

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Derek Wheeler

Navan is by no means special.

I'd have to check but I think it is the only county town in Leinster without a railway.

Kildare, Naas, Portlaoise, Wicklow, Arklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Tullamore, Mullingar, Dublin, etc are all rail served.

Navan is not special but it is different.

[Colm Moore]

Originally Posted by Navan Junction

I'd have to check but I think it is the only county town in Leinster without a railway.

Dangerous language there - "county town". Theres many a county town that isn't the biggest of towns.

[philip]

Originally Posted by Navan Junction

I'd have to check but I think it is the only county town in Leinster without a railway.

Kildare, Naas, Portlaoise, Wicklow, Arklow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Tullamore, Mullingar, Dublin, etc are all rail served.

Navan is not special but it is different.

Naas can hardly be described as having a railway connection seeing as it was torn up many years ago and the M7 built over it. Sallins is not Naas and the road between the two is choked with cars anytime I'm on it.

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by philip

Naas can hardly be described as having a railway connection seeing as it was torn up many years ago and the M7 built over it. Sallins is not Naas and the road between the two is choked with cars anytime I'm on it.

True, but the people of Naas still use it despite the closer proximity of a 3 lane dc to Dublin and back.

Originally Posted by Victor

Theres many a county town that isn't the biggest of towns.

Yes, and a case in point is where Trim was the county town of Meath.

But if you take Navan as a county town and the consider that the M1 is shadowed by a railway, the M4 is shadowed by a railway, the N/M7 is shadowed by a railway, and the N81 is shadowed by a rail, the you spot fairly quickly a sizeable gap on the parrallel N2/N3 north-east corridor which is not rail served.

It's a gap in the map, full stop.

I'm not arguing blindly for the Navan project. It's not even the most important project in county Meath, that honour goes to Dunboyne.

but common sense means that it will happen, the question is when. Navan Drogheda would have been an ideal interim solution (interim being a long long time in an Irish context) but until the direct link is forced to a negative conclusion it just won't be considered.

Point is that the sooner the direct link either comes off the fence on either the posative side or negative side then nothing will happen. Most people would bet on the negative side which would open the door to Navan Drogheda again, with the direct link being put back to a later timeframe.

But until the process is exhausted that can't happen. The planning of the direct link has to be pushed forward to a conclusion to get to that point, otherwise there will never be a conclusion to the merry-go-round.

Every campaign focuses on talking up a project. But not every campaign can expect a successful conclusion if it;s primary objective is not met.

Even if Meath doesn't get Navan Clonsilla when the current process ends, it will at least be left with a fully open door to get Navan Drogheda.

Ironically, campaigning for Navan Clonsilla may yet yield Navan Drogheda. None of us knows where this will lead to over the next few years.

If I were to bet though I'd say the process will exhaust with a no to the direct route for now leading to Navan Drogheda for the interim, and Navan-Clonsilla at a later date (but a real later date).

But again it doesn't really matter what any of us think - politics decides everything in the end