Meath on Track launch new petition to re-open the Navan-Kells railway

meath | environment | press release Friday September 30, 2005 21:06 by Meath on Track meathontrack at gmail dot com 0863213755

End Meath's commuter misery

The solution to ending N3 commuter misery is simple, but getting the Dublin to Navan and Kells rail line re-opened will not be easy because there in no political will for it to happen.

New Meath on Track petition launched

A new website has been launched with an online petition (www.meathontrack.com) for the reopening of the Dublin to Navan & Kells line, via Dunshaughlin and Ratoath.

The petition aims to collect 5,000 signatures initially, and is addressed to Noel Dempsey, TD for Meath and Government Minister.

The solution to ending N3 commuter misery is simple, but getting the Dublin to Navan and Kells rail line re-opened will not be easy because there in no political will for it to happen. At present, the only rail solution on offer to commuters in Meath is the Dunboyne rail extension which hasn't even been confirmed by government yet.

The big problem with the Dunboyne extension is that it isn't a rail solution for Meath - it will go as far as the Dublin-Meath border where it stops, and many of us living in Meath will have to pay 2 M3 tolls each way to get there, as well as Park & Ride charges, and that is before we even pay for our rail tickets.

And the bi-election promises of re-opening the line at a later date seem empty as building the M3 across the route of the old Navan line without putting in bridges to facilitate the lines re-opening means that it is unlikely that the Dublin-Navan line will ever be reopened again. One estimate is that bridging the M3 at Cannistown, near Navan at a later date will add at least €50m to the cost of re-opening the line, making the cost of the project prohibitive. An Bord Pleanála recently stipulated that the N6 bridge the route of the disused Limerick-Athenry line to facilitate the lines re-opening in future - why does the M3 not bridge the Dublin-Navan line?

The Meath on track campaign has 5 set goals:

1. To ensure that the existing Navan-Drogheda-Dublin line remains in operation and opens to commuter trains.
2. To secure immediate provision of 2 non-stop express commuter trains from Navan to Dublin via the existing Navan-Drogheda-Dublin line, twice a day.
3. To ensure that the M3 plans are changed to bridge the Navan line at Cannistown, etc.
4. To scrap the token rail solution that is the Dunboyne extension plan in favour of re-opening NOW the Dublin-Navan-Kells line via Dunshaughlin & Ratoath.
5. To secure planning for re-opening of Broadstone Station in Dublin as a terminus for the Navan rail service (as it was in the past), to avoid IE's excuse of lack of station capacity.

Those interested in signing the Meath on Track petition should visit www.meathontrack.com.