Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presence in the Chamber and his engagement on this critical matter of the completion of the second phase of the rail line from Pace to Navan. I also welcome members of the business community from Navan and Athboy who are in the public Gallery viewing proceedings. I sincerely hope to have a positive engagement with the Minister on this issue given his firm commitment and stance on sustainable models of public transport.

In the summer 2010, we saw the recommencement of rail passenger services from the Docklands station in Dublin to Dunboyne, which saw for the first time since 1947 passenger services back in those stations. It was the first phase of a major project to bring the rail line back to Navan. It was a momentous occasion for those of us who travelled on that special train that day as we looked forward to seeing the extension of the line to Navan.

In January 2011, final plans were compiled and the project was ready to move to the rail order stage. That would have seen the 35 km of line being constructed from the M3 railway station at Pace, taking in places like Drumree, the expanding village of Kilmessan and eventually into Navan, with stations at both Navan central and north Navan in Windtown being constructed.

The second phase of the project was anticipated to cost in the region of €550 million and was probably the most significant transport and economic project for Navan in decades. Thousands of people bought homes in Navan in the previous decade in anticipation of that line coming to Navan. Alas, the project was suspended when the new Government came to power in February 2011. What was even worse was the fact that the planning process for the project was not progressed even though the previous Minister had brought it to the point of advancement before leaving office.

The desperate need for that second phase to be completed manifests itself each morning on the congested roads from Meath into Dublin. I know there are huge demands on the Minister from TDs who already have rail services in their counties but who are looking for them to be expanded or retained but Navan is the only town in the greater Dublin area, and of any major capital town in the Leinster region, that does not have a passenger rail service. The negative impact on Meath’s capital town has been hugely significant both from a transport point of view and in terms of quality of life and it has been crippling in terms of our economic development.

There was capital road investment, most notably in the form of the M3. That project was mired in the courts and construction was delayed. However, that project alone does not present a sustainable model of transport because even before they leave the motorway at Blanchardstown, people join the bottleneck of traffic when the road network condenses back into single carriageway traffic the entire way into the city centre. It is brain damaging, and for the National Transport Authority to say it is investing in the bus system in lieu of the rail project being abandoned is no solution either because people are stuck on roads that cannot be extended in width any further.

The town of Navan is hugely important from a regional planning point of view and the huge numbers of people who moved from the city put huge pressures on our physical and social infrastructure. We have made great strides in terms of educational, sporting and cultural infrastructure but the critical piece of infrastructure lacking is the rail line. The fact that it remains off the agenda is severely hampering our county and towns.

Our latest economic strategy from our County Economic Department Plan illustrated that 54% of our population leave Meath each day to go to their place of work. That is some 33,000 people leaving each morning. We have the biggest outbound commuter population of any county in the country. Seventy-six per cent of those people are trying to make their way into the congested city of Dublin. That is a massive 25,000 people, mostly in the 20 to 44 age category. Those statistics provide the compelling evidence for the Minister to take a serious look at this project and breathe new life into it.

Some weeks ago the Minister committed to going to Westmeath with Deputy Willie Penrose to look at the rail situation in his county. I want to extend the same invitation to him now to look at the potential for the extension of the line from Dunboyne to Navan. I hope the Minister will accept that invite and that he will make his way to my home town early in the morning so he can see the choked arteries with the traffic coming in the opposite direction. As someone who has a commitment to sustainable modes of transport I ask that he would right the anomaly of Navan being the only town in the greater Dublin area without a rail passenger service, and complete the line.

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