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2008/7/15 carmeldiviney <carmeldiviney@eircom.net>:
Re: Navan railway probably will never happen/Front Page story Meath Post

Navan railway project dead?


By Evan Short

The Navan to Dublin railway project looks to be dead in the water after it was revealed that one of two key bridges along the M3 protecting the route is not being built.

Site visits by the Meath Post to both locations at Pace (Dunboyne) and Cannistown (Navan) has revealed that whilst the bridge protecting the railway at Dunboyne is being constructed, the bridge south of Navan is not, and the M3 is now being built directly across the railway  alignment.

News of this missing bridge and its impact on the Navan Dublin railway project is likely to be met with anger by Meath's commuters.

However Iarnrod Eireann claim that the NRA have factored in the problem and will build embankments to allow the railway to go ahead.

During the planning process for the M3 in 2003, concerns were raised by Iarnród Éireann that reopening of the Navan Dublin railway would be made too costly if M3 planners were allowed cut the former railway line in two by running the M3 through it without first building a  bridge.

Local railway campaigners, using information from Iarnród Éireann, succeeded in obtaining the insertion of two railway bridges in the M3 plans to protect efforts to reopen the railway.

Under order of An Bord Pleanála, Meath County Council drew up plans for one bridge at Dunboyne to protect the former railway line, and another at Cannistown just south of Navan.

As recently as 2006, Meath County Council planning office insisted that both bridge plans remained on file and that the Navan Dublin railway line was being protected.

An Bord Pleanála's ruling stated that a bridge to allow the railway pass beneath the M3 similar to the Dunboyne bridge should be constructed at Cannistown. The instruction was that unless Iarnród Éireann indicated that they intended following a new rail route for at this section then the bridge as designed should be inserted.

To run the line over the motorway would take an enormous effort and massive cost, with a 26 foot embankment required to run for kilometres on either side of the M3 to allow the railway pass above the motorway.

As late as last month, Iarnród Éireann indicated that this section of the former line was being retained, but the evidence in this photograph shows this has not happened.

Despite this, a spokeswoman told the Meath Post that the NRA are aware of their responsibilities.

"The (the NRA) are going to make provision and embankments will be built that will allow the railway to go ahead."

----------------------------------------------------------

Typed up by someone else.
Carmel

M3 railway bridge at Cannistown seems to be missing
Work on the M3 is flying along, with most of the allignment taking shape all the way from Dunboyne to Navan, with overbridges etc installed for most of the route.

However, remarkably the famous bridge at Cannistown included by order of An Bord Pleanála to facilitate the reopening of the Navan line is missing.

The existing stone railway overbridge which took traffic over the railway allignment has been severed and replaced with an overbridge which now takes the same traffic over the M3, which runs beneath it at grade.

But there is no evidence of any contingency being made to facilitate the railway reopening. On the Navan side to the M3 you have the stone overbridge and on the Dublin side the severed embankment, and no sign of any type of bridging structure in between.

All very curious as the works there are quite advanced, and my understanding was that the bridge was to be built as part of the M3 project.

Hopefully I have this wrong. However, if you look at the overbridging of the line at Pace, something looks badly amiss at Cannistown.

 

I know you guys all know this already, but the great tragedy of the  mothballing of the Dublin-Navan railway line is surpassed by two even  greater tragedies -

(1) the construction of that monster road called the M3 and

(2) the fact that there is an intact, fully operational, railway line, connecting Navan with Drogheda, sadly used only for freight.

Drogheda is, of course, a large commuter station with a busy connection to Dublin. On both ends of this Drogheda-Navan "freight" railway line  are the substantial remains of station infrastructure. In Drogheda, there is still a defunct platform on the Navan branch. In Navan, there is a railway station with platforms. The investment needed to bring Navan and Drogheda together (and by extension Dublin) is a tiny fraction of the costs needed to reconstruct the Dublin-Navan railway line. But Dublin and Navan are, it seems, further away than ever.

--
Kind regards,
*Anthony Murphy **
*____________________________

*Creator and Curator, *
Mythical Ireland:
http://www.mythicalireland.com
http://www.newgrangeireland.com
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  15/07/08

 

http://www.eurolink-m3.ie/project_map.html

Horrible fernikity interactive map that shows where the \toll Plazas
will be.

Carmel

 

 

Pat    Hill Of Tara yahoo Group 18/07/08

Background information;- I think we have looked at this before but -  is the Cannistown bridge part of the M3 planning consent....?

http://www.railusers.ie/campaigns/navan/

"........In fact there is no mention of the railway alignment on the aerial photographs, no mention in the planning documentation which accompany the M3 planning application. Failure to preserve the line is in clear breech of the Meath County Development Plan 2000.
Thankfully An Bord Pleanala imposed a condition that a bridge be built in Cannistown....."

Rail Users Ireland logo

Navan, in Co. Meath has boomed, like so many other similar towns in Ireland, due to the strong economy. But with every positive, there is a negative. Navan has paid the price for Dublin's housing crisis.
Housing developments have shot up and the population of the town has exploded. Local business's have benefited, property developers have a robust market in which to do business and the town has been transformed in terms of services and facilities. But Navan can't be expected to provide jobs for all of it's citizens. We accept that people will commute to Dublin for work. It's not unreasonable to assume that Navan people have been doing this long before the economic boom and influx of people into the town looking for affordable property.

But there is one key difference now. As commuters have moved into the Navan area, the transport infrastructure has failed to keep up. So now, with lots of 'cash in the bank', our Governments offering to the traffic chaos for Navan commuters, is the M3 motorway. And this 'offering' is backed by Meath County Council. Rail Users Ireland aren't anti-road. We're not even in a position to offer opinion on the archaeological problems surrounding the M3 project. But we are qualified to say that it's a disgrace and an affront to the people of Navan, to spend hundreds of millions on a motorway, while a railway station in the centre of the town lies derelict without any real
attempt by the powers that be to reopen it. It's time the people of Navan were told the truth. It's time the politicians choked on their false promises and hung their heads in shame.

While a recent study backed the opening of 4.7 miles between Clonsilla to Pace beyond Dunboyne, it is of little benefit for Navan residents. It means an 18 mile drive to Pace to access the park and ride facility. However the tollbooth on the M3 is positioned suchthat commuters must pay the toll to access the Park and Ride facility making it unattractive and in our opinion a farce. This is Meath County Councils vision for rail based public transport in Navan.

Meath Country Council and the NRA have knowingly plotted to destroy the Clonsilla Navan railway line, the M3 as planned cuts the line in two at Cannistown a fact hidden from the M3 plans. There are overbridges between Clonee and Pace to pass over the alignment but not at Cannistown. This shows Meath County Council have no interest in the line north of Pace. In fact there is no mention of the railway alignment on the aerial photographs, no mention in the planning documentation which accompany the M3 planning application. Failure to preserve the line is in clear breech of the Meath County Development Plan 2000. Thankfully An Bord Pleanala imposed a condition that a
bridge be built in Cannistown.

2015 is too long to wait, Navan could have a respectable train service in 2007 (via Drogheda) and full service by 2011/12 if the will was there to prioritise Navan over other less important projects. Despite recent claims by the Minister for Transport sufficient capacity will exist from 2009 onwards to support Navan.
There is no other reason other than lack of political will to make it happen sooner.

http://www.railusers.ie/campaigns/navan/

 

Having read the Transport 21 page about the Navan rail link have had a few thoughts;

( also is the scoping study in the first para the same as the one in the second? strange wording - ' for a scoping study -- have COMPLETED a scoping study ..)

"……Iarnród Éireann and Meath County Council have agreed Terms of Reference for a scoping study for Phase 2 (extension to Navan).

In relation to Phase II, the extension of the line to Navan, Iarnrod Eireann completed a scoping study in December 2007 in which they examined 9 routes and concluded that the project was economically viable. Two of these routes were found to be suitable and are now subject of a study to produce a comparative Business Case.."

QUESTIONS -
Which are the two routes? - cannot find a map..

What can/will be included in the business case?

Can they be compelled to take the Meath Master Plan into
consideration?

If there is any question of the viability of the rail link in terms that the M3 is `solving' transport problems then the `viability' of the M3 in terms of current cost of completion of the M3 ( over 1 billion didn't the NRA say )- materials and transport costs etc….should also be considered - the reverse case..

Projected tolls in the light of the downturn in Cintras business in the US,,making M3 less viable.

Also that the economic downturn - reduced funds for NDP - fuel increases- places a new light on both projects……value for money etc….
Should'nt the other political parties be lobbied regarding this ` comparative Business Case.'referred to in the text?

http://www.transport21.ie/Projects/Heavy_Rail/Navan_Rail_Line.html

Project Title        Navan Rail Line

Project Description
The first phase involves reopening 7.5km of railway line running off the Maynooth line, at Clonsilla, to the M3 interchange at Pace, near Dunboyne. Three stations are proposed at Hansfield, Dunboyne and a major Park and Ride facility at Pace on the M3 interchange. The project would allow 15-minute peak hour frequency commuter services into the new City Centre station (in Docklands) and 30-minute off-peak, and serving newly developed land such as Ongar.

Subject to further studies, it is proposed to extend the rail line to Navan within the Transport 21 Framework.
Projected Completion Date
Phase 1- 2010 (Clonsilla to Dunboyne)
Phase 2-2015 (Navan, subject to studies)

Current Status of Project
An Bord Pleanála approved a Railway Order on 29th February 2008 - the equivalent of planning permission for a new rail scheme - to construct the 7.5 Kilometre line from Clonsilla on the existing
Dublin-Maynooth commuter line to the M3 Interchange at Pace, north of Dunboyne. The project is phase one of the proposed development of the Navan rail line under Transport 21. It is anticipated that construction will commence in late 2008, to ensure the line reopens in 2010.

Fingal County Council and Meath County Council have made a Section 49 Levy Scheme under the Planning and Development Act, facilitating the collection of development levies which will contribute towards the project. Iarnród Éireann and Meath County Council have agreed Terms of Reference for a scoping study for Phase 2 (extension to Navan).
In the meantime, the Docklands station, was opened on the12th March 2007 and it will serve all services from Dunboyne.
In relation to Phase II, the extension of the line to Navan, Iarnrod Eireann completed a scoping study in December 2007 in which they examined 9 routes and concluded that the project was economically viable. Two of these routes were found to be suitable and are now subject of a study to produce a comparative Business Case.
Link
http://www.irishrail.ie/projects/dunboyne_commuter_rail.asp

Pat 18/07/08

 

(Found this in Google News, it mentions The M3 half way down, point is,
this committee is working on the commuter counties and might take
submisssions on various topics. The chairman is Willie Penrose of the
Labour Party. That might give us an "in" as the Party have opposed the
route and might pay attention? The MMP etc. could be suggested to them.
Muireann)

Irish Times, Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Measures urged to assist commuter towns
RONAN McGREEVY


DOUBLE-DIGIT unemployment levels and a lack of infrastructure dominated  the first day of a new initiative by Oireachtas members to discover the  issues of concerns to commuter towns in Leinster.
Both Navan (10.5 per cent) and Athy (15 per cent) have seen unemployment  levels rise rapidly this year and have been hit hardest by falls in  construction employment and the loss of manufacturing jobs, the members  of the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment were told.
The strain of commuting was also raised at both gatherings where  Oireachtas members heard from local officials and public representatives.
Arthur Lynch from the Kildare Enterprise Centre said that since it was  set up two years ago, 1,500 people had registered with the website  www.itsyourtime.ie   which is trying to encourage commuters to find work locally.
He said 40 per cent of Kildare's 30,000 commuters got up before 7am to  get to work in the morning.

Mayor of Athy John Lawler said commuting would always be a "fact of  life" for towns like his, but commuters should travel to Dublin "not  because they have to, but because they want to".
A subcommittee, chaired by Willie Penrose TD (Lab), is on a fact-finding  mission and will report back to the committee, which will in turn report  to Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan in the  autumn.

Róisín Doherty, midlands regional director of State training and jobs  agency Fás, said redundancy levels were "very, very high", especially  among construction workers. There was also a dramatic fall-off of  apprenticeships in Kildare in the construction sector.
Local Siptu representative Michael Dowling said Athy was the town that  the "Celtic Tiger left behind" as much traditional industry had left in  recent years.
"There has been nothing but bad news" in recent years, he said, with the  announcement recently that food processor Batchelors would lay off 18  workers in Athy, while the town's biggest employer, Tegral, intended to  make 14 people redundant in August.
Cutbacks in the health service meant there were few short-term contracts  at St Vincent's hospital, which had 220 employees and was one of the  biggest employers in Athy, he added. Local TD and Minister of State Seán Power said Athy's lack of  infrastructure was the reason it had not "progressed to the same degree"  as other Co Kildare towns.

In Navan, the issue of the delivery of the controversial M3 motorway was  raised. However, committee member Senator Brendan Ryan said locals were  working on the assumption that it would be completed on time despite the
protests over the route of the motorway near the Tara site. The shortage of apprenticeships was also raised in Navan.
The committee members are to visit Carlow and Gorey next Monday, Naas on  Tuesday and Balbriggan and Drogheda on Wednesday. The final destination  will be Mullingar in September.
© 2008 The Irish Times