Iarnród Éireann
outlines Navan railway route
By - Paul Murphy.
THE moves to restore the rail link between Navan and
Dublin were given a major boost this week when
Iarnród Éireann announced that the original
route built in the early 1860s is emerging as the
preferred route.
The news will come as a huge boost to local rail
campaigners, as well as business and civic interests who
see the restoration of the railway as a key means of
opening up the county to badly-needed industrial
development and easing the travel burdens on commuters to
the capital.
The project is due for completion in 2015 although there
is already speculation that a decision to choose the
original route could bring it to fruition sooner.
Iarnród Éireann had already agreed the
terms of reference for a scoping study with Meath County
Council. The study examined nine possible routes.
However, it has now come out in favour of the original
line, with some minor deviations, as the preferred
route.
The company had previously said that the study was due to
be completed shortly. However, the Meath Chronicle has
learned this week that the study has now finished and is
to be submitted to Meath County Council.
Minor deviations will be needed at the Black Bull
junction where part of the M3 under construction has been
built into the old railway line (resulting in a possible
shift of the rail line to the west), and also at
Drumree.
Further deviation may also be required at Kilmessan where
the Station House Hotel stands on the old route and where
eight houses have also been built on the old route. Five
stone under-bridges will also be required at Trim Road,
Bective, and two at Fairyhouse and Rathregan.
The Meath on Track rail lobbying organisation reacted
enthusiastically to the news yesterday (Tuesday), saying
that it was a "fantastic development for the hard-pressed
commuters of Meath" and pointing out that the 50-minute
projected journey time from Navan on the route would cut
commuting times to the capital in half. Commuters from
Dunshaughlin could expect a 33-minute journey.
According to the non-commercial, community-based
organisation, the original route had always been likely
to emerge as a preferred option as it was built to
exacting high standards originally. For example, Meath On
Track said, there was only one public road level crossing
along the entire 26-mile route.
It added that the speed capability of the line was
particularly impressive because it was engineered to be
both straight and level. "Very few, if any, serious speed
restrictions will apply to this line. We would expect
70mph running of trains to be standard," said a
spokesperson.
Meath on Track also said that the Navan-Dublin line had
been built to the same standards as the Dublin-Belfast
and Dublin-Cork mainlines. Campaigners and public
representatives have consistently pointed out that the
absence of a railway line along the north-west corridor
from Dublin through central Meath to Cavan had resulted
in higher than average car dependency ratio in the
region, a fact borne out in recent Central Statistics
Office (CSO) figures.
The direct Navan-Dublin railway was built in less than
three years between 1859 and August 1862. MoT said that
if it took less than three years to construct this
railway in 1859 using picks and shovels, there was no way
that it should take eight years to re-lay track now.
"Most of the remaining infrastructure along the alignment
remains, such as cuttings, embankments and numerous stone
bridges," the spokesperson said.
"The Boyne Viaduct, a magnificent six-arch stone bridge,
has been immaculately preserved as a result of the
opportune intervention of local man George Briscoe who
prevented explosive demolition of the bridge when the
line closed in 1963 and subsequently purchased it from
the State for £60. It is currently used to
transport cattle across the river," he added.
That single purchase made by an individual is expected to
save the State the €60 million which it would have
to spend on a new viaduct.
It is also estimated that as few as eight new bridges
will be required along the route as most of the original
road bridges and river crossings remain.
Eight years ago, Iarnród Éireann announced
a five-year reinstatement for the line as a railway order
and compulsory purchase order (CPO) process would be
required to re-open the line.
Meath on Track said that it would continue to campaign to
have the 2015 timeline in Transport 21 brought
forward.
© The Meath Chronicle, 8th. December 2007.
Related Articles:
Route of Navan-Dublin rail line to be outlined "within
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