Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question. I believe it was raised before. I wish the Deputy well in his new venture. I welcome the fact that he has not lost sight of the home base while doing what he has to do.

As the Deputy is aware, the Navan corridor, or M3 corridor, is currently served by a commuter rail service that commences at M3 Parkway and serves Dunboyne before continuing through to Docklands. The service also allows for interchange with Maynooth line services at Clonsilla. Importantly, the service also benefits from two park-and-ride sites, with 1,200 parking spaces available at M3 Parkway and 300 at Dunboyne. These park-and-ride sites broaden the reach of the service and allow for people who might not live in the immediate vicinity of either station to make use of the service.

In 2016, the NTA published its statutory transport strategy for the greater Dublin area, in which the issue of a rail link to Navan was considered. The strategy states that based on current population and employment forecasts, the level of travel demand between Navan, Dunshaughlin and various stations to the city centre is insufficient to justify the development of a high-capacity rail link at the current time. Instead, the strategy proposes an enhanced bus service along the corridor and the development of a bus hub in Navan. In addition, the strategy also proposes enhanced bus services on the N2 corridor.

Late last year, Bus Éireann announced new services along the M3 corridor, known as the NX service, which starts in Navan and is scheduled to operate every 20 minutes during the day. While I acknowledge that the introduction of the new service has not been without problems, I believe the provision of an all-day service every 20 minutes operated by double decker coaches does represent a step forward in terms of public transport capacity on the route.

Meath County Council, in collaboration with the NTA, is currently progressing the development of a bus hub as provided for by the transport strategy. Importantly, the transport strategy clearly states that the issue of a rail link to Navan should be kept under review, taking into account the scale of new and planned development along the route. The strategy also clearly states that the corridor previously identified for a Navan rail link should be protected from development.

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