‘Real money’ now behind Navan Rail Line — but Meath commuters still ‘in hell’
The long-awaited Navan rail line is now fully funded through the planning stage, but the pace of delivery has been sharply criticised ahead of a public meeting on the project tonight.
Fianna Fáil TD Aisling Dempsey said that for the first time “real money” is in place to bring the project through planning, with a design team appointed and work already underway.
Her comments followed a meeting she and local Fianna Fáil councillors held with the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, in Leinster House.
"I have made it my business to get in front of the Minister, to tell him directly how important this project is for Meath, and to ensure it remains on his agenda,” she said.
“That has been my focus from day one and it will continue to be my focus until it is delivered.”
She said the difference now is that the project is backed by “real money and a defined plan for delivery”.
“I am conscious that people have heard commitments in the past, but what they have not heard before is that the project is fully funded up to the planning stage. There is a design team appointed, the work has started, and the plan is moving through the stages."
“I am a realist and I will not pretend this can be delivered overnight, but I can be honest about the tangible progress that is now happening."
Ms Dempsey added that her approach over the past year has been focused on “results rather than rhetoric”.
“All the rhetoric over the past decade has not moved the project forward one inch,” she said.
Meanwhile, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín criticised the pace of delivery ahead of a public meeting on the project organised by the Meath on Track campaign group.
The meeting is taking place tonight, Thursday December 4, at 7.30pm in the Newgrange Hotel, Navan.
“We have a situation in Meath where many are living in commuter hell,” he said.
“Parents are gone from their homes from 6am to well after 7pm. They are lucky to get home in time to put their kids to bed.”
He said long commutes were impacting family life, community involvement and wellbeing.
“The traffic disaster in the Greater Dublin area is grinding people down. The return journey for tens of thousands of people from Meath is now often taking 4.5 hours. That’s 20 hours a week commuting for a 40-hour working week.”
In 2024 the National Transport Authority (NTA) allocated funding to Iarnród Éireann to establish a design team to begin the project.
The NTA Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area supports delivery of the Navan rail line between 2031 and 2036, subject to planning approval. A public consultation on route options is expected in 2026.
Deputy Tóibín said Meath is “the biggest commuter county in the country” and noted that Navan remains the largest town in Ireland without a rail line.
“At the current rate of delivery, it will be 42 years from concept to completion,” he said.
He also took aim at the Government’s recent National Development Plan review, saying it contained only one reference to the Navan line and “commits no money to the project”.
Some frustrated commuters, he said, have begun suggesting more radical forms of protest such as toll strikes, though he said he does not want to see “disruption”.
“The Minister for Transport should come to Meath tonight to listen to the people living in commuter hell,” he said.