Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the Navan railway will be proposed and advanced by his Department, in view of the capital expenditure review. [6001/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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The Navan Rail Link Project was included under the Transport 21 Initiative and was to be developed in two phases.  Phase 1 comprised the Dunboyne Rail Line project and involved the reopening of 7.5 km of a railway line running off the Maynooth line, at Clonsilla, to the M3 interchange at Pace, near Dunboyne.  This line opened in September 2010 and Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2013 with the opening of Hansfield Station.  Phase 2 was to provide for the extension of the Dunboyne line onwards to north Navan.  This development together with a number of other transport projects was postponed in 2011 due to the economic and fiscal crisis.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) now has statutory responsibility for the development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).  The NTA published its Transport Strategy for the GDA for the period 2016-2035 last year following its approval by my predecessor.  All the main transport corridors in the GDA were examined in the Strategy including the Navan to City Centre Corridor.  The NTA concluded 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 this time.  Instead it is proposed that an enhanced bus service will be provided along the corridor in conjunction with the development of a bus hub in Navan. This review of the Capital Plan does not change this position.

The NTA has indicated that the position will be reassessed as part of the next review of the GDA Transport Strategy and this will take account of the level of development in the catchment area over the next six years.  The NTA has indicated that the corridor identified for a rail link to Navan should be protected from development intrusion in the meantime.  If the review of the Transport Strategy concludes that a rail link is justified at that point, funding can be pursued in the context of the development of future Capital Investment Plans.