Deze pagina voor het laatst bijgewerkt op 2010-05-16, origineel eind 2007

Meath on Track

Proinsias Mac Fhearghusa van Meath on Track [website intussen alweer enkele jaren uit de lucht] gaf toestemming materiaal van hun site te gebruiken. 

 Waar gaat het om? Op de homepage hadden ze een mooie kaart met een inkleurende route en bijbehorende tijden voor een Railverbinding tussen Navan en Dublin.

 What's all about? On the home page of Meath on Track [now out of the air] there was a nice map with a colourful route and timing for a railway connection between Navan and Dublin.
Nieuwe verbinding Navan - Dublin? Bron: Meath on Track

 Waarom is die treinverbinding ineens interessant? Er waren al ooit treinverbindingen tussen Navan en Dublin.

 Why suddenly such an interest in that railway connection? There have been connections betrween Navan and Meath in the past.

Treinverbindingen rond Navan en Dublin 1906 Railway connections around Navan & Dublin 1906

Intussen heeft de Ierse regering een ambitieus vervoersplan gelanceerd Transport21
Daarin kan het nog wel tot 2015 duren voor de passagierstreinen weer rijden vanuit en naar Navan.

In mean time the Irish government has lauched an ambitious transportation plan Transport21
However, according to that plan it may take untill 2015 before passenger trains will connect Navan.

Verdere ontwikkelingen waren ook te vinden op navanrailwayproject.com [ook al weer uit de lucht]

Op de site van Transport21 staat:
[tekst + foto overgenomen met toestemming van Norman Elliott, Transport 21 Division]

Project Description
The first phase involves reopening 7.5km. of railway line running off the Maynooth line, at Clonsilla, to the M3 interchange at Pace, near Dunboyne. Three stations are proposed at Hansfield, Dunboyne and a major Park and Ride facility at Pace on the M3 interchange. The project will allow 30 minute-frequency commuter services into the new City Centre station (in Docklands), and serving newly developed land such as Ongar. Subject to further studies, it is proposed to extend the rail line to Navan within the 10-year period of Transport 21.

In 2010:
The first phase of this project involves reopening 7.5km of railway line running off the Maynooth line, at Clonsilla, to the M3 interchange at Pace, north of Dunboyne. Three stations are proposed on this route at Hansfield, Dunboyne and Pace. Park and Ride facilities comprising 1200 spaces will be provided at Pace whilst a 300 space car park will be opened at the proposed Dunboyne Station. This phase of the project will allow 15-minute peak hour frequency commuter services into Docklands Station in Dublin city centre and a 30-minute frequency off-peak.

Subject to further studies, phase 2 of the project would extend the rail line to Navan within the Transport 21 framework.

Foto: Transport21

The former Clonsilla to Navan railway line was closed in 1963, but the trackbed was preserved. Both Fingal and Meath County Councils have committed to residential developments along the old alignment and this led to the carrying out of a feasibility study in relation to the reopening of the line. The study indicated that there is a strong case for the line based on expected population growth planned for the areas it would serve. Passenger journeys of over 2 million by 2016 are forecast by the study. A service pattern of 3 – 4 trains per hour in the peak will be provided to meet this demand. The two local authorities have indicated that they would be prepared to contribute to the capital cost of rebuilding the line through development levies.

The development of services on this line will require the construction of a terminal station in the Docklands as Connolly station is already at capacity.

Het station Docklands in aanbouw. Foto's: Meath on Track 
Railway station Docklands under construction. Picture: Meath on Track

Projected Completion Date
Phase 1- 2009 (Dunboyne) Febr 2009: 2010 (Clonsilla to Dunboyne). Oct 2009: Services are scheduled to commence in late 2010.
Phase 2-2015 (Navan, subject to studies) Feb 2009: (Navan, subject to statutory processes and contract award processes) 
Current Status of Project [End 2007]
Iarnród Éireann , in conjunction with Meath and Fingal County Councils completed a feasibility study into the reinstatement of the Clonsilla/Dunboyne/Pace line in early 2005. Iarnród Eireann has been granted approval to begin detailed design work on the project and to bring it to Railway Order stage. It is expected that the company will submit its Railway Order application in mid 2007. Fingal County Council has made a Section 49 Levy Scheme under the Planning and Development Act, facilitating the collection of development levies which will contribute towards the project funding. Meath County Council is also developing such a scheme. Iarnród Éireann and Meath County Council are developing Terms of Reference for a scoping study for Phase 2 (extension to Navan).

Phase 1 [Feb 2009]
An Bord Pleanála approved a Railway Order on 29 February 2008 – the equivalent of planning permission for a new rail scheme – in respect of Phase 1 of this project, also known as Dunboyne Commuter Rail. The contract for this phase was officially signed on 10 November 2008 and alignment selection works have been carried out in advance of construction. It is planned that all Dunboyne services will terminate at Docklands Station. Services are scheduled to commence in 2010.
Fingal County Council and Meath County Council have made a Section 49 Levy Scheme under the Planning and Development Act, facilitating the collection of development levies which will contribute towards the project.

Phase 2 [Febr2009]
Iarnród Éireann completed a scoping study for phase 2 of the project – extension of the line to Navan – in December 2007 in which they examined 9 routes and concluded that the project was economically viable. Two of these routes were found to be suitable and are now subject of a study to produce a comparative Business Case.

Added in 2010:
Following the completion of the study it was announced in May 2009 that option A emerged as the preferred route, which follows the original alignment. Iarnród Éireann will now prepare a business case for this route as well as an application for a Railway Order.

Op de Meath on track site stond wat over de geschiedenis [met hier tussendoor opmerkingen van de Webmaster]: 

For almost a century, Meath's railways stretched across the county and were a central part of the social and commercial fabric of the county.

Today, ore from Tara Mines is the only traffic trundling along the line from Navan to Drogheda, where it joins the Belfast-Dublin mainline. Since Gypsum Industries stopped ferrying their cargo by rail a few years ago the Navan-Kingscourt branch line has been lying idle.

It’s all in stark contrast to the situation that prevailed in the latter part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century when the railway network, with the Navan-Clonsilla line as its anchor, reached Trim, Athboy, Kells and Oldcastle.

Construction of the line between Dublin and Drogheda was completed in 1844. Soon efforts were underway to extend the railway to Navan. Thomas Brodigan, of Piltown House near Drogheda, a prominent local businessman and a member of the Board of Trade, spearheaded the extension of the line from Drogheda to Navan.

On March 13, 1845 a meeting was held in Navan Courthouse to protest against Brodigan’s plan and advocating a direct link to Dublin. Work began on the Drogheda-Navan branch in 1847 and was three years later it was open for business.

Vroeger zijn er heel wat mijnen in Ierland geweest. Tara Mines in een nieuwe ontwikkeling sinds 1977. Ierland is mede daardoor het zevende land ter wereld voor zink. Ook lood wordt er kennelijk gevonden.

There have been quite some mines in Ireland. Tara Mines is a new development since 1977. Also on account of that Ireland lists 7th worldwide for zinc. Also lead is found.

Een trein rijdt het Tara mijncomplex binnen. Foto: Meath on Track

 Ertstrein passeert brug over de Boyne. Foto: Meath on Track
 Ore train on the Byne bridge Picture: Meath on Track

Tussen Navan en Drogheda ligt nog Slane aan de Boyne. Daar kwam de trein niet langs, er was al wel watertransport mogelijk. Over Slane, lees verder...

De trein passeert onderweg de voormalige halte Lougher. Foto: Meath on Track

Door de cementfabriek bij Platin [Dulleek] Foto: Meath on Track

Ertstrein van Tara Mines in Drogheda. Foto: ©Gordon Hawkins [foto]

Zie ook zijn website Northern Ireland Transport Photos met enorm veel treinfoto's waarvan we er enkele mogen gebruiken.
Gordons Hawkins website Northern Ireland Transport Photos contains a huge amount of train pictures. Gordon kindly agreed to use a few on this site.

Ertstrein van Tara Mines in het havengebied te Dublin. Foto: ©Gordon Hawkins [foto]

The construction of the railways provided employment in the years during and after the Famine. This new and efficient mode of transport boosted the economies of rural areas at a time when travel and transport was slow, difficult and uncomfortable.

Before the advent of the railways it took several days to bring cattle and other goods from the west of Ireland to county Meath. Now it took a matter of hours. Business at the stations at Hill of Down and Enfield was boosted by the cattle trade.

Trim, Kells, Athboy and Oldcastle all benefited in turn from the arrival of the iron road. A new annual fair started in Navan in 1855 as a direct result of the coming of the railway. Held on November 14, it became known as "The Great Leinster Fair of Navan".

One commentator noted that "Meath has probably the richest land in the world. In Meath cattle are fat every summer and placed on the market weeks before cattle from other districts." The Navan-Drogheda railway line was opened on February 15, 1850 and just over three years later it was extended to Kells.

Het oude station in Kells. Foto: NIAH
NIAH schrijft hierover:
Description
Detached five-bay single storey former railway station, built 1853, comprising of three-central bays flanked by gabled breakfront terminating bays. Now partly in use as house. Pitched and hipped slate roof with brick and rendered chimneystacks. Brick walls, with ashlar limestone plinths. Recessed blind arches to breakfront bays with inset round-headed windows, flanked by ashlar limestone channelled quoins, having open pediments and brick eaves courses above. Timber sash window and paired timber panelled doors. Remains of platform with limestone kerbing to site.

Appraisal
This former railway station, executed to the designs of George Papworth, is of apparent architectural form and design. The gabled breakfronts are articulated with recessed blind arches and ashlar limestone dressings. The building retains many original features and materials, such as the timber sash windows and slate roofs. The former station forms part of an interesting group with the former warehouse to the north-east and the former railway hotel to south-west.

NIAH = National inventory of Architectural Heritage, teksten en foto's overgenomen met toestemming van Willy Cumming, Senior Architect - NIAH.

Meath on Track vervolgt:

Such was the popularity of the new mode of transport that plans for a direct link to Dublin soon surfaced again. Understandably the owner of the Dublin and Drogheda railway didn’t take too kindly to the idea of a rival.

But influential people such as the Duke of Leinster, the Earl of Darnley as well as Lords Fingall and Dunsany supported the project. The Dublin and Meath Railway company was set up in 1858 with a view to developing a rail link from Athboy and Trim to Dublin.

Curiously, the contractors the Moore brothers began construction at the Meath end with the Duke of Leinster turning the first sod in the project on October 21, 1858. But it soon ran into difficulties as local landowners priced the land out of their reach.

Work ceased in October 1859 and the developers turned their attention to developing the line from Navan to Clonsilla. The 26-mile route was opened on August 29, 1862. A branch from Kilmessan extended to Trim and Athboy by February 1864.

Railway construction reached it peak around this time and by the summer of 1863 the line from Kells to Oldcastle was opened. Competition between the rival lines was fierce and both experienced financial difficulties.

Het voormalige station in Oldcastle. Let op de fraaie kap. Foto: NIAH.
NIAH schrijft hierover:
Description
L-plan five-bay single-storey railway station, built c.1880, with projecting terminating bay to west. Pitched and hipped roofs with red brick chimney. Timber porch canopy to four-bays, with cast-iron brackets. Ashlar limestone walls with quoins and string courses. Timber sash windows set in lugged limestone window surrounds with limestone sills. Timber double doors set in lugged limestone surround. Timber platform building attached to rear. Flat-roofed single-storey building to east, with cast-iron water tank to roof.

Appraisal
Oldcastle's former railway station was designed in an Italianate style and retains many original features. High quality craftsmanship is apparent in the dressing and detailing of the masonry. Attached to the former station master's house to the east and to the platform building to the north, this building is part of an integral group. Other related railway structures include the former warehouse, and the disused railway bridge to the east.

Navan was nu een kruispunt van spoorlijnen geworden, wel met twee rivaliserende ondernemingen.
Meath on Track gaat verder: 

The line from Clonsilla to Navan became known as "The Meath Road", but making it pay proved difficult. The Dublin and Meath Railway Company went into receivership in 1868 and the following year the Midland and Great Western Railway Company, which owned the Dublin-Galway line, took out a lease on it and eventually bought it out in 1888.

A link from Navan to Kilmainhamwood was opened in late 1872 and three years later the line was extended to Kingscourt, a full 50 miles from Dublin by rail. This section was worked by the Midlands and Great Western Railway.

Later it was proposed continue the line to join the Great Northern Railways but it never materialised. On the Clonsilla-Navan line there were stations at Dunboyne, Batterstown, Drumree, Kilmessan, Bective and Navan.
 
Kilmessan was the junction for Trim and Athboy. Between Navan and Kingscourt there were stations at Gibbstown, Wilkinstown, Nobber and Kilmainhamwood, while on the Kells-Oldcastle section there was a station called Virginia Road.

Voormalig station in Athboy aan de zijlijn via Trim. Foto: NIAH
NIAH schrijft hierover:
Description
Detached five-bay single-storey former station, built c.1863, having four-bay two-storey former station masters house with extension to north. Now in use as veterinary clinic. Pitched slate roof with brick chimneystacks. Snecked stone walls with integral segmental carriage arch and ashlar limestone or red brick dressings. Timber sash or cast-iron windows with stone sills. Limestone kerbing of former platform to site.

Appraisal
This former station and former station master's house form part of a group with the surviving railway related structures to the site. The architectural form of these buildings is enhanced by the well finished original materials. These railway structures make a colourful group, with the red brick, grey limestone and painted timber.

Kilmainhamwood, een stuk spoor aan de noordelijke lijn. Foto: NIAH
NIAH schrijft:
Description
Section of Drogheda-Kingscourt railway line, constructed c. 1870. Single line of cast-iron track on timber sleepers with limestone platform and level crossing.

Appraisal
Though now longer in use, this section of track is in fair condition. The retains a complex of related buildings and structures such as the goods shed, railway workers house, station, level crossing and platforms.

Meath on Track gaat weer verder:

Such was the level of traffic on the "Meath Road", particularly cattle specials, that it proved impossible to work it efficiently on a single track. Work began in the late 1880s to create a double line between Clonsilla and Navan.

It was only brought as far as Drumree and lasted from 1889 to 1919. Shortly after the Midland Great Western Company took over the Clonsilla-Navan line a new station was built a Fairyhouse to cater for race day traffic.

The last special train to the Easter Meeting ran in 1940. A platform was opened in 1924 at Proudstown on the Kingscourt line to service the nearby racecourse and it continued to operate until 1939. The new operators were also responsible for erecting platforms as all stations on the line.

Spoorwegen rond Navan, kaart uitgegeven 1927 Railway Clearing House, London
Intussen een lijn van de Great Northern [oost-west in zwart] en een van de Great Southern [zuid-noord in rood]
Railways around Navan, map issued 1927 Railway Clearing House, London
Through construction of new lines and amalgations of companies a Great Northern line [East-West in black] and one of the Great Southern [South-North in red]

[Voor de jongeren onder ons: 1 Shilling was 12 pence. Let hieronder ook op het woord Emergency]

Rail travel in the early days was restricted to the wealthier classes. Around 1870 fares were approximately 1 penny per mile and with the average wage around three shilling per week, working class people could only afford to travel short distances.

However that began to change when rail companies began to drum up extra business with the introduction of day trip and seaside specials around the turn of the century. The railway played a key role introducing new and exotic goods into rural areas.

The introduction of a regular bus service between Dublin and Kells in 1927 lessened the demand for passenger services. The Midland and Great Western Railway Company was absorbed by Great Southern Railways in 1925.
Passengers services on the Enfield-Edenderry branch ceased in 1931 and the line was closed in the great railway cull of the early 1960s.

The rail service to Navan Racecourse ended in 1939 but there were two notable developments around this time. A siding to the Gypsum factory at Kingscourt was opened in the same year and a decade later a new station was opened at Mosney to service the newly opened Butlins Holiday Camp.

During the Emergency rail services were restricted and those that ran did so at a slower pace due to the poor quality of the fuel. Passengers services on railways in Meath were suspended altogether.

In 1946 passenger services were restored on the Clonsilla-Navan line before being suspended for good the following year. The decline of the railways was accelerated in the Fifties with the closure of the Kilmessan-Athboy line in 1953.

No trace of Trim station remains, while the ones at Kilmessan and Virginia Road have been transformed into restaurants. ‘Football Specials’ apart passenger trains were rarely full and as part of an economy drive a ‘bus’ on rails was introduced between Navan and Drogheda but on April 12, 1958 the last regular passenger service to Navan ceased.

Het vroegere station van Kilmessan, nu hotel. Fotos: NIAH
NIAH schrijft hierover:
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey former railway station, built c. 1862, with projecting gabled central bay and single-storey wings to north and west. Now in use as a hotel. Pitched slate roof with rendered chimneystacks. Square and round-headed timber sash windows. Extension to the rear. Stone gate piers to site.

Appraisal
This former railway station forms part of an interesting group of related structures with the former signal box, warehouse and bridge to the site. Though many of the original features and materials have been replaced, the building retains the original form of the entrance elevation and timber sash windows.

De trieste resten van station Virginia Road. Foto's: NIAH
NIAH zegt:
Description
Detached five-bay single- and two-storey over basement former railway station, built c.1850, now disused. Comprising a gabled two-storey breakfront with single-bay single-storey wing to the east and three-bay single-storey wing to the east. Pitched slate roofs. Roughcast rendered walls with limestone quoins. Timber sash windows set in segmental-arched openings with ashlar limestone dressings. Timber panelled single and double doors set in segmental-arched openings with ashlar limestone dressings. Curved canopy over entrance door with wrought-iron brackets. Outbuildings to site. Rock-faced limestone gate piers with cast-iron double gates.

Appraisal
This railway station is of architectural design and detailing. The building retains many original features and materials, such as the limestone dressings, canopy and timber sash windows. The site of the railway station is enhanced by the railway bridge and related outbuildings to the site.

Five years later the line to Oldcastle closed and redundant tracks in the county were uprooted the following year. The ‘Football Special’ between Navan and Dublin was revived for the 1991 All-Ireland Football Final between Meath and Down, and again five years later for the drawn Meath-Mayo decider.

Interestingly, former Meath County Board secretary Liam Creavin came to live in the county when his father was appointed Station Master at Bective in the early 1930s. Navan remained an important rail-head for freight traffic until 1977 when the business was transferred to Drogheda.

A portion of Kells line was relaid to cater for the shipment of lead and zinc from Tara Mines to Dublin port and it constitutes the only traffic on the line now since the transport of gypsum ceased just a few years ago.

Finally, the county’s railways have featured in a few features films. In the late sixties I can recall the steam train and appropriate carriages travelling to Beauparc station where part of "Darling Lili" was filmed. Directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson it was the story of an American ace who falls for a German female spy.

Tot zover de geschiedenis. Als achtergrond van de huidige [?] acties van Meath on Track:

The joint promoters of the Navan scheme as announced under Transport 21 are Fingal County Council, Meath County Council, Iarnród Éireann and the Department of Transport.

Our short-term objective is an interim upgrade of the existing, in-use Navan Drogheda freight line (est. 65 minutes to Dublin) for two trains each way per day, and by 2011 via Navan Clonsilla (est. journey time 50 minutes) for scheduled direct passenger trains.

To date, despite announcements of immediate commencement on Phase ll of the railway to Navan in November 2005, no work has begun to facilitate a restorative Railway Order.

Het is duidelijk, het plan Transport21 voorziet in railverbindingen, ook voor passagiers, tussen Dublin en Navan. Op korte termijn zou begonnen worden met de huidige (langere) lijn via Drogheda. Enige opknapbeurten zouden wel nodig zijn en misschien niet alleen het stuk Drogheda - Navan.

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