The Dublin to Navan rail project is to restart in a “couple of weeks”, according to a report from local radio station LMFM. But this will be the very early stages of the project, with consultation, environmental reports and planning approval to be gained before work starts on the project.
The project previously had a draft railway order ready to be submitted for planning permission in the mid-2000s and has been long-promised by politicians.
Phase 1 of the Navan railway reopened with stations in Dunboyne and at M3 Parkway in County in 2010, and the first station on the line, Hansfield in Dublin 15, opened afterwards in 2013.
IrishCycle.com understands that Irish Rail has been gearing up to restart the project for some time, and the timing is not directly linked to the impending election.
Barry Kenny, a spokesperson for Irish Rail, told the LMFM radio station: “It is in the NTA’s Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy. It’s the early 2030s that it’s earmarked to be completed, but we are starting the project. So that’s the planning process, the design and planning process.”
The formal restarting of the project would include public consultation ahead of a railway other being applied for.
“So, that process is literally about to start. We have our own team in place internally. We’re about to appoint consultants to help us with that. And I expect we’ll be talking to you about that within the next couple of weeks.”
Mark Gleeson, a spokesperson for Rail Users Ireland, a commuter representative group, told IrishCycle.com that they welcome the early stages of the project restating but noted that it seems wasteful that the project has to start from scratch.
Gleeson said: “We welcome the news that consultants are to be appointed to commence the very initial stages of planning for reopening Dunboyne Navan.”
“There was already in the late 2000s a draft railway works order prepared; it appears wasteful to throw this away and start from scratch,” he said.
Gleeson added: “As it will be mid-2030s at best, assuming financial appraisals are positive, other options such as use of the battery Dart fleet to link Drogheda and Navan using the existing line should be looked at as an interim measure.”