The government has committed to linking Navan to the Dublin suburban rail network by 2015. In political terms this is an empty promise. The case has clearly been made for Navan commuters, who endure hours of gridlock every day on the N3 and the M50.
What has the government committed to?
The government has published a plan called ‘Transport 21’ which is an aspirational plan for investment in transport infrastructure over the next ten years. The Navan rail link will go ahead in two stages:
- Phase 1: Clonsilla (on the Maynooth commuter line) to Pace (near Dunboyne). Completion date: 2009
- Phase 2: Pace to Navan. Completion date: 2015
Navan gets put on the long finger
Phase 1 of the project will only bring commuters as far as Pace, north of Dunboyne. This terminal station has been billed as a 'Park and Ride' station for Navan commuters. What has been kept quiet is that it will take an 18 mile drive to Pace to access the park and ride facility. The tollbooth on the M3 is positioned such that commuters must pay the toll to access the Park and Ride facility making it unattractive and in our opinion a farce.
There is no reason why the rail link to Navan cannot be fast-tracked (it follows an old railway alignment which is largely intact) -- indeed the government is willing to expedite the opening of the Western Rail Corridor as far as Tuam and Claremorris before Navan. This blatant vote-seeking (the Claremorris opening was rejected by two independent reports commissioned by the Minister for Transport) is a slap in the face for commuters in Navan.
Navan must get a rail link
We cannot sit by as the government chases votes at the expense of young families trying to get by. We cannot stand by while the government prioritises white elephant projects over a cheap and vital infrastructural development. As commuters have moved into the Navan area, the transport infrastructure has failed to keep up. So now, with lots of 'cash in the bank', our Governments offering to the traffic chaos for Navan commuters, is the M3 motorway. And this 'offering' is backed by Meath County Council. Platform 11 aren't anti-road. We're not even in a position to offer opinion on the archaeological problems surrounding the M3 project. But we are qualified to say that it's a disgrace and an affront to the people of Navan, to spend hundreds of millions on a motorway, while a railway station in the centre of the town lies derelict without any real attempt by the powers that be to reopen it. It's time the people of Navan were told the truth. It's time the politicians choked on their false promises and hung their heads in shame.
Visit our campaign timeline to find out how we have been campaigning for the people of Navan to get their fair share.
Why are Meath Co. Council trying to prevent the Navan railway?
Meath Co. Council are doing little to promote the re-opening of the rail line to Navan. Read more about the destruction of the line to Navan.
Current Status
Bord Pleanala under the Strategic Infrastructure Development provisions authorised the construction of the Clonsilla Pace section on February 29th 2008