Will Navan Man deliver?

[Mark]

I think the Greens might have more of an impact on the Navan motorway and rail line than Dempsey will.

It might be too late for them to stall it but the rail line could get up and running quicker because of them.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by dermo88

We were talking about whether Noel Dempsey would be capable of delivering on the Navan railway.

I doubt it, and thats judging on past event, although I hold him in higher regard than Martin Cullen or Seamus Brennan.

That was it!

Yes, oh about that............we have a plan.............

See its not all sarcasam and tomfoolery here.

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Mark

the rail line could get up and running quicker because of them.

Very valid point. Let's see what happens.

And poor oul' Dempsey is from Trim btw - really localises the whole rail issue now

[dermo88]

Meathontrack MIGHT need to change its strategy, and follow the Westontrack strategy. Westontrack have been very clever, if you look at a particular angle.

They demand the reopening of the line from Ennis to Collooney. They'll get a lot less, but they'll get whats actually needed, which is Limerick to Galway direct.

Westontrack could demand the reopening of the Navan line all the way to Kells and Cavan and the reopening of the branch to Trim.

By demanding more than is needed, perhaps they could get the line to Navan.

Its just like an auction. Lobby for more than you need, and you'll get some of what you wanted in the first place.

[Dave]

Dempsey on Questions and Answers last night suggested that now he's Minister for Transport Navan would happen quicker and if he could get the rail line to Navan done before 2015 then he would.

[Colm Donoghue]

Martin Cullen told the country about how the railway order would be signed in a cupla weeks just before the election....

Seamie Brennan announced Middleton rail opening soon.
FF announced Terminal2 at Dublin airport would be open in2003...

Dempsey announced third level fees, electronic voting. proven track record if ye'll excuse the pun

[James Shields]

Meathontrack could demand the reopening of the Navan line all the way to Kells and Cavan and the reopening of the branch to Trim.

(Minor slip of the keyboard corrected in italics).

As far as I know the Meath on Track website was demanding just that, as well as the immediate reopening of the Drogheda line with non-stop trains. However the current version seems a lot more moderate. Perhaps that was the wrong approach.

Also, the words "social justice" don't seem to appear anywhere on the front page. Clearly they got a result for WOT.

[dermo88]

I love the smell of social justice in the morning.

That phrase, "social justice", really gets on my nerves.

We tried social justice in Ireland. In return, we got the Tallaght Bypass, Mass unemployment, Emigration, the IMF knocking on the door, Hoodwink, cute hoor, cash in hand, nod, wink, nixer and brown envelope.

Social justice works in some countries. Social justice is needed for the most vulnerable in our society, but it is NOT applicable in any shape or form to transportation.

[CSL]

How on earth will Limerick / Galway work without reversing at Athenry ?

[sean]

Will "Dial-Up" Dempsey deliver? I doubt it.

[Mark]

Will he mess with Transport 21? I doubt it. He will probably be as slow as Cullen though quicker than Brennan at signing off things but I cant see his appointment causing any major upsets or surprises!

[Navan Junction]

Originally Posted by Mark

Will he mess with Transport 21? I doubt it. He will probably be as slow as Cullen though quicker than Brennan at signing off things but I cant see his appointment causing any major upsets or surprises!

I think he's made his first boo boo though. He mentions in an article this week in the Meath Chronicle that he is expecting completion of the Interconnector in 2011..

Mind you it is probably only fair to acknowlege that he probably hasn't even physically been in his dept yet

Lets hope we see real progress over the lifetime of this govt

[ThomasJ]

From the Meath Chronicle:

http://www.meathchronicle.ie/frontpa...ct-705410.html

Dempsey’s new role best chance for rail project
Wednesday June 20 2007

Minister for Transport under pressure to deliver Navan-Dublin line by 2012

Paul Murphy

MEATH rail campaigners are convinced that the recent appointment of Noel Dempsey to the post of Minister for Transport is the county’s best chance yet of having passenger rail services between Dublin and Navan put in place much sooner than eight years’ time.

Those pushing the restoration of the line want the project brought forward by three years from the 2015 deadline set down by the Government so that the scheme will get under way well before the next general election.

In an interview with the Meath Chronicle this week, Mr Dempsey said that a major priority from a Meath point of view in the Department would be the Navan-Dublin rail line. “We will look at the possibility of a shorter timescale for this badly-needed project. I understand there may be a road block in Dublin causing difficulties,” he said, adding that he would be reviewing the Department files on the project “very quickly”.

He said that it was absolutely realistic to expect that commuter trains would be running from Navan by 2015 as the Government had promised and he brushed aside “cynics” who might believe otherwise.

He said he wanted to see how much faster it could be done, and he considered that the 2015 target was an “outside target” as far as he was concerned. One hurdle to be overcome lies at the Dublin end of the line where the interconnector between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock would have to be completed before the Navan line could be put into operation. He expected the Heuston-Spencer Dock link to be in place by 2011.

The Meath on Track lobbying organisation this week welcomed Mr Dempsey’s appointment as Minister for Transport and the Marine, saying that they considered it “a highly significant development” for the Meath railway project.

According to the organisation’s spokesperson, Proinsias MacFhearghusa, since news of Mr Dempsey’s appointment last week, there has been a marked increase in confidence in the county that the railway project would finally be delivered upon.

“When it became apparent that the new Government was likely to consist of a predominantly Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition, two developments during the election campaign became highly significant,” Mr MacFhearghusa said. “The first development was that local Green Party members managed to elicit an unambiguous commitment from the Green Party leadership that Navan would be a priority project if the party was elected to Government. The second was that local TD and Government Minister Noel Dempsey pledged to vigorously promote fast-tracking of the Meath railway project after the election,” he said.

However, both of these commitments had effectively been superseded by the “welcome news” that there would be a Meath minister at the helm of the Department of Transport for at least the next two and a half years, “which gives more than an adequate window of opportunity to progress the Dunshaughlin and Navan railway project to the Railway Order stage.”

Meath on Track said t was imperative that the project was moved to Railway Order stage immediately. “The Taoiseach has made it clear that he intends to carry out a mid-term review of cabinet ministers within two and a half years.” He believe that now is the time to bring the Navan Railway Order stage, and to aim for construction to start on the project by late next year.

The Meath of Track spokesperson said: “Commencement of works in late 2008 is easily achievable, according to Iarnrod Eireann, and, more importantly from a timing perspective, the date is well in advance of the Taoiseach’s mid-term review scheduled for 2009. If Minister Dempsey ensures that the Railway Order is progressed as quickly as possible, then construction could start in late 2008 and the line would be up and running before the 2012 General Election.

“Iarnrod Eireann have stated that they can do it within a five-year timescale and we are confident that Minister Dempsey is now in a position to ensure that the project is advanced immediately and without further delay.”

MoT said that if the Navan line was not immediately brought forward for a 2012 delivery, there was a very real risk that a change in government, or even in the transport ministry, could have negative repercussions for the Meath railway project. “If the last decade has taught us anything, it is that we have to take opportunities such as this with both hands,” the organisation said.

[Mark Hennessy]

Lots of diggers and clearing works at Clonsilla this morning anyway.

Thats a good article, some great quotes from MOT to appeal to the very local nature of Irish politics.

[ThomasJ]

I noticed the diggers this morning. Thought i was seeing things. Good to see something happening. Out of interest how did the public consultation meeting in last night

[willow]

Navan rail will compete with the M3 for passengers. The worse the road, the more popular the train and vice versa. With the M3 a certainty, the M50 upgrade and junction improvements coming soon, things ain't looking good for the train. You can spend all the billions you like on new track and trains but why bother when you're still going to get the same old 'don't care' attitude from the staff feeding into low quality of service. At least the road can't go on strike.

Is there no way to drive trains automatically? It can't be rocket science. Just stop and go, open the doors, close the doors.

[Mark Gleeson]

Well regardless of the M3 and M50 the fact the traffic could move faster isn't actually that important its just going to get to a bottle neck on the Navan Rd or somewhere else

Doing some simply maths a annual ticket holder with tax relief on the ticket would pay less per day than a one occupant car in fuel and tolls.

60 mile round trip say you can get 35 mpg
1.7 gallons -> 7.735 litres @ 1.10 => 8.50 a day in fuel

Lets say the toll is 2 euro each way and assume free parking (unlikely or if the case you likely taxed on that)

Now at 12:50 at day

Annual ticket is currently for a 30 mile commute 1665

48 weeks work, 5 days is 6.93 a day before you get the tax relief on it which is significant, at least 20% so now at 5.50 a day, so even with 2 in the car train is still cheaper.

52 minutes to Dublin centre by train even with the motorway is going to be damn good, Drogheda has a motorway and avoidable toll, trains still are packed.

And yes trains can drive themselves, the DART was designed to do that but as this morning showed not a good idea in open countryside

[Oisin88]

48 weeks work, 5 days is 6.93 a day before you get the tax relief on it which is significant, at least 20% so now at 5.50 a day, so even with 2 in the car train is still cheaper.

Don't forget the PRSI that you and your employer save. I estimate that it costs me about €3 per trip to Tullamore (105km) It costs €2.60 for the toll!

[Derek Wheeler]

He said that it was absolutely realistic to expect that commuter trains would be running from Navan by 2015 as the Government had promised and he brushed aside “cynics” who might believe otherwise.

That's me! Thanks Noelly!

He said he wanted to see how much faster it could be done, and he considered that the 2015 target was an “outside target” as far as he was concerned. One hurdle to be overcome lies at the Dublin end of the line where the interconnector between Heuston Station and Spencer Dock would have to be completed before the Navan line could be put into operation. He expected the Heuston-Spencer Dock link to be in place by 2011.

Well that's funny, because his predecessor said that Docklands was the station for Navan trains and now the bould Dr. Lynch from CIE is citing Broadstone as the solution for Navan trains. It's all here lads across many posts.

My original ascertian still stands. Not by 2015 by the hair on my chiny chin chin!

[James Shields]

The M3 should be fantastic for the journey from Navan to Blanch, and the M50 upgrade will make it easier to get around the city. But at the end of the day (well, actually, the beginning), most commuters will still need to find their way into the city centre, and unless you want to shell out €12 each way to use the port tunnel (as about 5000 cars are currently doing), that's still going o be a pain.