Clonsilla rail contract to be awarded next month

While government cutbacks (or “savings”) may well be the order of the day for the coming months, it appears that at least the proposed extension to the Clonsilla rail line is likely to escape the financial chop.

A contract for phase one of the Dublin to Navan railway line comprising a 7.5km link between Clonsilla and Pace near Dunboyne is to be awarded next month according to the Department of Transport.

This section of the new line will have three stations at Hansfield, Dunboyne and Pace, where the State’s largest park-and-ride facility with capacity for 1,200 cars is to be located close to the M3 motorway.


According to a spokesperson for the department, the new M3 motorway and the rail line extension to Pace are due to open to traffic in 2010.

The rail journey time from the new station at Pace to Dublin is expected to be 33 minutes, with trains leaving every 15 minutes at peak times and every 30 minutes during the off-peak.

The new line will be particularly welcomed by residents of Castaheany and Ongar who will no longer have to journey down to Clonsilla to catch the train.

The proposed route will follow the old Navan railway line which was closed in 1963 after over 100 years of operation. Since its closure, the track was lifted and most of the land was sold by CIÉ. But the alignment is still intact and largely free of development.

According to the Government’s transport strategy, Transport 21, the route is to be the first section of the re-opening of the entire 28.5km link between Dublin and Navan. However, it is understood that planning for the remaining section of the route from Pace to Navan, which is not due for completion until 2015, is still at a very early stage of planning and there are fears that work on the project may suffer from forthcoming Government cutbacks.

However the news for Dublin 15 commuters looks good as it appears that the first section of the project may get underway before the recession deepens.

 

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