Iarnrod Eireann outlines two rail routes to Navan

Two route options for the proposed Dunboyne to Navan railway line were revealed by Iarnrod Eireann last week. The main difference between the two routes is that there are two proposals to go around the town of Dunshaughlin - one to follow the old line along the Drumree side, the other to circle the Ratoath side of the town, rejoining the original line near Dunsany. Two stations are planned for Navan - one at the Trim Road and one at Windtown, while stations are also planned for Kilmessan and Dunshaughlin. The double track railway provided on the Navan Phase 1 Clonsilla to Pace line will be continued and future electrification will be allowed for. Following the preparation of a report on the feasibility study and public consultation by Iarnrod Eireann in March, Minister for Transport, Meath West TD Noel Dempsey, will make a decision on the route. Route A for the most part follows the disused route from Pace to Navan, with local diversions where the line is blocked by the M3 north of the Black Bull, by properties in Drumree, on the southern edge of Kilmessan, and at Cannistown. The scheme allows for a deep cutting to pass beneath the M3 at Cannistown, a large bridge to cross the M3-N3 link road at Kilcarn and provision for the diversion of a sewer at Dunsany Bridge. Route B follows the same alignment as Route A to the Black Bull interchange where it diverts eastwards, crossing the M3 motorway, before passing to the east of Dunshaughlin. The route then partly circles the town before recrossing the M3 motorway and rejoining the original route to the north-west of Dunshaughlin. The remainder of the route northwards to Navan is the same as route A. Four stations are proposed along the route, which is 34 kilometres long - at Dunshaughlin, Kilmessan, Navan Central and Navan North, a terminus on the north of the town. Car parking will be provided. Iarnrod Eireann says that, as part of the feasibility study, design elements considered included the impact on property, dwellings and utilities, impact on the environment, including the impact on flood plains and drainage regimes; construction costs, including physical constraints, such as crossing the M3 motorway, revenue generation and the likelihood of receiving grants and levies to support the scheme. Environmental impacts such as the effects on the rivers Boyne and Blackwater as well as other landscape issues were also taken into account. In Dunshaughlin, the two options for the station are at Grange End on the east, and Drumree on the west. The Grange End option would mean crossing the M3 motorway in two places, as well as a link road, but the Drumree option would mean passengers would have to cross the motorway. A railway line was opened in 1862 between Dublin and Navan (via Broadstone and Dunboyne), which was eventually closed in 1963. In 2000, the Dublin Transportation Office recommended the reopening of the Navan-Dunboyne-Clonsilla railway line and this initiative was taken forward and supported by a number of strategic planning documents. The reopening of phase one from Clonsilla to Pace is included in the Government"s Transport 21 investment programme and is currently under construction. The results of the current public consultation programme will be included in the final feasibility study report which will be completed in March of this year, according to the rail company. The recommendations will then be considered by the Minister for Transport.