I agree, it is never going to happen. The real problem is the long run between Killucan and Maynooth and sorting Enfield would fix most of that.
The thing about doubling Mullingar to Maynooth (or part thereof) is that it would be relatively cheap to re-double as opposed to having to double a line that never has been double. It is still a relatively busy section of line - 20 trains a day at present but and it is saturated between Killucan and Maynooth. This takes half an hour at the best of times which effectively blocks out the line for 10 hours with no margin for error. Sorting Enfield would halve the blocking time. There's only about 12 hours between the first and last trains of the day so there is a very small margin for error if there is leaf-slip or speed restrictions.
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