"Will I ever get on a train from Navan to Dublin?"
The thoughts of one Navan native this week, as a public consultation opened about the proposed new route for a new Navan rail line.
"It'll never happen. They've been talking about that the last forty years. It's all pie in the sky," said another man.
63 years after the Co Meath town's rail line closed, it now seems the project is finally full steam ahead.
However, the rail line, which was described this week as a €1 billion project, is likely to take around 10 years before it opens.
The emerging preferred route will effectively bring the DART to Navan, by building a 34 kilometre stretch of tracks from the existing line at the M3 parkway near Dunboyne.
It will also include 4 new train stations, two in Navan, and also in the growing commuter areas of Dunshaughlin and Kilmessan.
The route was announced with a photocall event at the location of the proposed "Navan Central" station this week.
Despite some local scepticism, the project certainly seems to have a lot of weight behind it.
The announcement was well attended, including three Government ministers (two of them local to the area), as well as local politicians, and the chiefs of Iarnród Éireann, the National Transport Authority and Meath County Council.
Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien said the new rail line would "transform lives", in an area that has seen, and will continue to see, huge growth.
He moved to reassure the sceptics that the train is coming back to Navan for the first time since 1963.
"This is happening. This will be done. If you take Navan Rail Line, if you take Metrolink for arguments sake. They were projects that were talked about for a long time. We will deliver these.
"This is happening. People can be sure of that. We've had great support from colleagues here in Meath, who have advocated for it. We ensure that it is in the NDP. The NTA and Iarnród Éireann are here. This project is happening and it is needed," he said.
Timelines and challenges
The current timeline involves applying for a Railway Order (planning permission) in 2028 and starting construction in 2030.
The first of two public consultations on the "emerging preferred route" opened this week, inviting the public to have their say on the plans.
This feedback, further design work and environmental and technical assessments will all inform the 'Preferred Route'.
Iarnród Éireann says that the line will reuse much of the disused railway that closed in the 1960s, but it will move away from it in places, to "avoid impacting developments that have been constructed since the railway was closed" and also to bring a station close to Dunshaughlin.
It is not yet known what the impact of the construction will be, as the type and scale of the works needed at each location hasn't been finalised.
However, the current plan will involve building two bridges over the M3 motorway, either side of Dunshaughlin.
The four new stations are proposed for Navan North (off Ratholdren Road along the disused Kingscourt railway line), Navan Central (between Carriage Road and Trim Road), Kilmessan (on a green field site west of the village) and in Dunshaughlin (on a greenfield site west of the town).
These are not set in stone; Iarnród Éireann says the exact position, layout and detailed design of each will "continue to be refined as the project develops".
In fact, Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority Anne Shaw said this week that they were currently in negotiations to purchase the land for the Navan Central Station, where the photocall event was held this week.
Other land across the route will also have to be purchased.
This is because when the old railway closed in the 1960s, the infrastructure was dismantled and land sold off.
A wide corridor has now been identified within which the railway, stations, car parks, and other infrastructure might be located.
This is a larger area than what the final railway will be, and Iarnród Éireann said the "exact land take has not yet been confirmed".
Affected landowners are being contacted by letter to let them know their property falls within this wide corridor.
The project is currently only funded up as far as the planning phase, after which point Iarnród Éireann will have to work with Government, the Department of Transport and the NTA to secure more funding.
Before that, difficulties in the planning process can't be ruled out.
Minister Darragh O'Brien said the Government will "do our level best to expedite the project", but it has to go through the planning and formal stages.
He said he hoped there would be no objections, and he "can't imagine why anyone would object to a project like this".
Local TD and Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín, who has been a key driver behind the "Meath on Track" campaign, has called on the Government to designate the railway line as "critical infrastructure" to ensure it gets built.
He said the proposed line could be the subject of a judicial review, which could further delay the building of the line.
"We simply can't afford any more delays," he said.
"Given that this project has been so disastrously slow, we are asking the Government to designate the Navan to Dublin Rail Line as critical infrastructure project under the new Critical Infrastructure Bill," he said.
Short term measures
The project was welcomed by Meath County Council Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe, who said it was important for the future growth of the county.
Meath is the fastest growing county in Ireland and has grown by 25% across the last two Census periods.
Mr Kehoe said that 42,500 people leave Meath in cars and buses every day to commute for work.
Helping those people, in the next ten years, before this rail line is hoped to be built, is important.
Passenger numbers across the three main Navan-Dublin bus routes increased by 21% since 2023, while numbers on the NX service, which goes from Navan's Park And Ride to Wilton Terrace in Dublin, are up by 28%.
A review of the service was carried out due to capacity and "performance issues" on the route.
Commuters in Navan have complained of long journey times and full buses driving by, leaving them stranded at the bus stops.
Anne Shaw, Chief Executive of the National Transport Authority, said that a public consultation on improvements to the NX route will open next week.
She said the NX service was a "victim of its own success".
Potential changes from next year will include extra frequency, more departures and earlier starts on some of the services.
"Hopefully they should address some of the concerns we have now and build about 20% additional capacity onto that route.
"By 2027 we should be able to be in a position to look at how we can increase the route capacity, working with Bus Éireann," she said.
Separately, the Minister for Transport also confirmed that he has recently convened a group in his department to look at the issue of congestion in the Greater Dublin Area, along with the NTA and Iarnród Éireann.
This group is looking at measures like more park and ride facilities and extra bus services, and will report back to the Minister before the summer recess.
Minister O'Brien said that long term capital investment was critical, but that interim measures need to be looked at too.
A previous plan to reopen the Navan to M3 Parkway train line was shelved in 2011 due to the economic challenges of the time.
And while all these proposals to improve bus and rail services for Navan and surrounding areas will be welcome news to commuters, they will be hoping these plans don't get derailed this time around.
