The next passenger train arriving in Navan will be in 13 years

DART +, MetroLink, Luas to Finglas, MetroLink South, Luas to Lucan, Luas to Ringsend, Luas to Blanchardstown and Tyrellstown, off the top of my head are far more important rail projects than any extension to Navan.

Edit: Oh, and DART Underground, I am sure there are more.

I remember back in the day there were absolute assurances that there would be passenger trains to Navan by 2015. Derek Wheeler of what was then Platform 11 was discussing it on the radio and promised to walk the entire route playing the banjo if it actually happened. Needless to say, the banjo passed 2015 safely in its case.

And Tuam to Ennis excepted, all those motorways run out of Dublin. There isn't even one from Cork to Limerick, when a spur from Mitchelstown would do the trick.

They don’t want to do it. Politically it’s more popular dish out endless welfare entitlements than invest the money in long term projects that would pay off. If they really wanted to build a metro etc they’d be doing it. They don’t

Genuine question - there is an existing rail line running through Navan as explained in the article. It runs to Drogheda where it presumably links to the Belfast to Dublin line and freight trains occasionally run on it. Obviously it's not a very direct routing to Dublin, but would it involve significant works to reopen that line to passenger trains which could continue past Drogheda to Dublin if the demand was deemed to be there to do so?

I just wondered as, despite the routing via Drogheda, there might be scope for services that, at peak times, would get commuters to the centre of Dublin quicker than going via road during rush hour traffic. It's built and it's there, it presumably couldn't cost that much to put it back into use?

By all means continue to look to progress the more direct route but being honest, looking at the amount of development in and around the old more direct line, it strikes me as the kind of infrastructure development that just isn't realistically going to happen in Ireland in any of our lifetimes.

Hardly stupid when 20 years at a minimum will pass and nothing in the way of construction started..nothing of an idea available as to when it will start, finish or otherwise.

so by those very ‘standards’ Navan…. Well, we’ll see. :)

for comparative reference

Metro RO lodged : 30/09/22

decision due : 21/12/23

Navan has been kicked into the ether, what version of it if any we see, who knows what or when.

I don't think that the route via Drogheda would get commuters to the centre of Dublin quicker than going via road during rush hour traffic. Speed is limited to Drogheda and there aren't paths available south of Drogheda so changing trains would be required, but the Navan branch joins the Northern Line south of Drogheda station so not easy to get a train there. It could be made to work but I don’t think journey times or level of service will be attractive enough.

Realistically, Navan is looking at buses or P&R at M3 Parkway for the foreseeable future. A phased plan would be more achievable, it's less than 10km to Dunshaughlin and apart from crossing the M3, there would be no physical/geographical issues to deal with. Given the growing population there, and it being an extension of an existing service, it might be feasible. Once that far, Navan could be a future extension.

The Metro was first planned in 1975 (and that was a system, not the half a line proposed now, which it is still uncertain we'll ever get)

Crayoner with no idea of what the proposal is, or of geography (by mentioning Enfield)

I can just imagine the Waterford Whispers headline now:

'TELEPORTATION TO SOLVE TRANSPORT ISSUES' - MINISTER

Back when the Clonsilla-Pace section of rail was being built and the Pace-Navan section was still planned, I recall an editorial in a local paper advocating for a spur to Trim. The author argued "it'll only take a few miles of rail" (crayoners always seem to use miles) to "make Trim a railway town again".

crossing the M3 is not an issue, if the underpass isnt suitable then just build a bridge. The project will cost a fortune anyhow (and Ireland has the cash) so a bridge here or there isnt a biggie.

And if you want to see a project from the last 5 years where a railway needed to get from one side of a Motorway to the other using a bridge, and in a rather tight space , then have a look her just outside Munich airport for the new link to Regensburg. It actually crosses a motorway, then one of the rail tracks and lands in the middle and then is 4 track for a litle bit before merging.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neufahrn_Link

Navan to Dublin via the old alignment may well take 70mins, but some people will still prefer to utilise it even if it is slower than bus / car.

Seems like a quick win, a pragmatic tactical option that doesn’t preclude building the right long term solution in due course.

Well the Tara Mines trains aren't running, appreciate it is a minor reduction of load but is a reduction nonetheless

Potentially Navan to Dublin services could serve Drogheda? They'd have to reverse in to the platform so extra runtime from the Navan passenger perspective, but no odds to Drogheda to Dublin commuters as it would just be certain trains going to Connolly with people already on them. In this way the extra slots being requested going into Connolly are minimal.

I won't argue that a critical rail infra priority is increasing Northern Line capacity into Dublin. There's lots and lots to be done in a state that hasn't built truly new heavy rail alignments...ever, so when we talk about increasing services the first port of calls should be maximising infra we already have. Rather than crayon drawing new lines that have no funding.

I understood runtime would be ~70mins. If it served Drogheda you’d need to add more onto it.

Yes it would be slower than car or bus, but you’d still have people who would use the service in-spite of that.

And this is a connection we can create for very minimal investment. Track is there, station is there, trains are available. Some minor refurbishment, track / signal upgrades, schedule updates and it’s up and running.

I’m eschewing anything complicated / expensive from the proposal. If people in Navan want a rail connection in the short term they need to make an ask of Irish Rail that involves as little work as possible.

Irish Rail are in the business of mothballing / lifting rail connections, not creating them.

The only way running trains from Navan on the existing lines would be attractive is if Metrolink was extended to meet the Northern line. Terminating platforms would have to be added at the interchange station, then you could run Navan trains to there without going onto the really busy part of the line.

Even then, journey times into Dublin city centre probably would be too long for most people but it would allow people access jobs etc. around Swords and the airport, plus students in DCU might use it. I'd say there'd be considerable transfers from existing heavy rail services to Metrolink, more than enough to make the extension worthwhile, then adding Navan services would be very cheap.