Meath on Track 2
Deze pagina voor het laatst gewijzigd op 2010-05-16, daarvoor 2007-04-12

Vervolg van de special Meath on Track waarin de geschiedenis van spoorlijnen rond Navan is behandeld.
The history has been described in Meath on Track

De Ierse regering heeft plannen voor een nieuwe verbinding, dus...?

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Ook Meath on Track was flink vertegenwoordigd op Indymedia Ireland [overname met bronvermelding toegestaan]

Meath on Track public meeting op 22 november 2005. Bron: Indymedia

Al op 2 november 2005 verscheen het volgende bericht (ook) op Indymedia:

Proposal contained in Transport 21 needs immediate implementation

There are serious concerns over the 10 year timescale outlined in the announcement Transport 21 proposal relating to the Navan railway line.

Meath on Track welcomes the proposal to reopen the Dublin Navan railway contained in the Transport 21 proposal.

However, there are serious concerns over the 10 year timescale outlined in the announcement.

Living in Meath and working in Dublin will be made much easier by the reintroduction of rail services, but 2015 is too long a wait for reopening of the Navan railway line.

Phase 1 of the plan to Dunboyne (due to be completed by 2009) isn't a real rail solution for Meath as 9/10 of the line will be in Dublin. The entire Navan railway line must be reopened as soon as possible, not in 10 years time.

In 1859, it took only 3 years to clear & build the 26 mile Navan line by hand, using picks and shovels. Work commenced in October 1859 and was completed in August 1862 - surely the line can be reopened much earlier than 2015 using modern track laying technology along the old allignment?

In the meantime, Meath on Track are calling on the Government to reopen the existing Navan to Dublin freight line (via Drogheda) to commuter trains as a 65mins journey is far better than the 2 hour each way daily commutes currently facing Meath Commuters. Platform 11 have identified capacity on the Drogheda to Dublin line for this interim proposal.

Indeed, immediately introducing 2 express commuter trains on this existing line, twice a day could take up to 1,500 cars off the N3 at Blanchardstown, meaning those that can not use this service will benefit from an easing in congestion on the N3, both in Meath and on the M50 approaches.

The Meath on track proposals must be met immediately, and without prevarication to protect our economy and quality of life of Meath's citizens, and those further out in Cavan. There is no other way to ease congestion on the N3 in Blanchardstown and on Meath's roads.

Please sign the Meath on Track petition to ensure that living in Meath and working in Dublin ceases to be the nightmare it is at present, as soon as possible.

Het lijkt een aardige vergelijking: indertijd 3 jaar gewoon als handwerk en nu 10 jaar met al die machines. Natuurlijk zijn de eisen vandaag anders dan vroeger. Een mechanische overwegbeveiliging kan nu niet meer. [zie foto bij Oude Treinen in Ierland]

Waarom niet gewoon met de auto van Navan naar Dublin?
Weer in Indymedia Ireland op 18 april 2006:

You could travel from Navan to Dublin in c.65 minutes by rail

Stuck in traffic for up to 2.5 hours on wet mornings, it can be hard to believe that Navan already has a railway, and that you could be in Dublin in approximately 65 minutes on it.

In fact it is even harder to believe that the Iarnród Éireann will not allow commuter traffic on the line and that they don't see a future for the Navan Drogheda line as a commuter rail link.

As a Navan and Kells' railway line in the 19th century, it provided both towns with their first rail connection to the national railway network via Drogheda.

Today the Drogheda line from Navan is used only to carry zinc-ore 4 times daily, Monday to Friday from Tara Mines to Dublin Port, and is closed to commuter train traffic.

According to Iarnród Éireann, the reason Navan-Drogheda isn't used for commuter trains is that the track would require an upgrade as it has fallen into a state of disrepair.

Fair enough, you say to yourself. Upgrade the line to passenger standard and give the people of Navan and Duleek the chance to travel to Dublin without stress and in comfort by railway.

But unfortunately for Meath's commuters, Iarnród Éireann has refused to do just that.

At the Transport 21 meeting in Navan in Febuary 2006, it was announced that commuter rail link to Dublin via Drogheda would not be needed, as Navan would have a new direct rail link in 10 years time.

10 years, stuck in traffic for up to 5 hours a day when Navan already has a rail link?

Support the Meath on Track campaign for rail transport now in Meath. \

Verder commentaar lijkt overbodig.
Maar hoe zit het nu met de kansen het oude traject opnieuw te gebruiken?

How about using the old track?

Kaart voor de lijn van Dunboyne naar Navan. Bron: Meath on Track

Intussen is er hier en daar op de oude bedding gebouwd, zijn bruggen verdwenen en meer obstakels aanwezig.
Buildings have been erected on the old alignment, bridges have disappeared and other obstacles constructed.

Meath on Track identificeert al een flink aantal obstakels:

Obstructions on the alignment
1. Grounds and car park extend onto alignment at Dunboyne
2. Dunboyne station is now a private residence – garden extends onto alignment
3. A sewerage pipe crosses the alignment north of Dunboyne station
4. The N3 was diverted onto the track bed in the 1960’s.
5. At Rathregan a shed has been built on to the alignment.
6. Batterstown station is now a private residence and has been extended onto the track bed.
7. The road-bridge at Drumree has been demolished
8. Drumree station is now a private residence and the track bed is now a driveway
9. The Skane Valley Sewerage Scheme is built along the alignment at Dunsany
10. The alignment is in use as a driveway at Lambertstown, Kilmessan
11. A housing estate has been built on the track bed in Kilmessan, and a access road to a new housing
development
12. Kilmessan Junction is now a hotel, and has been extended onto the track bed
13. A house impinges the alignment north of Kilmessan
14. The under-bridge on the Bective-Ballinter road has been demolished
15. Track-bed is in use as an access road from the Bective-Ballinter road
16. North of the Boyne the cutting has been used as a land-fill for builders rubble
17. Bective station is now a private residence, and the alignment is in use as a garden with barn
18. A factory and house have been built on the alignment at Cannistown
19. The over-bridge on the Trim road (R161) has been demolished
20. Industrial units built on the track-bed from the Trim road to Navan Junction where the Clonsilla and Drogheda
lines converged, will be removed as part of the new shopping centre plans.

De vraag is of dit alles omvat. Would the list embrace everything?

Dunboyne Bridge, Station Road, Dunboyne, County Meath. Foto: NIAH
NIAH zegt over deze brug, waaronder de bedding duidelijk is versperd [of is dat die tuin hierboven?]:
Description
Single-arch railway bridge over tracks, built c.1862, with squared rubble stone walls. Rock-faced limestone voussoirs, string courses and cappings.
Appraisal
This bridge forms part of a group with the related structures along the disused railway line. The limestone masonry is clearly executed by skilled craftsmen, and the contrasting squared stone and rock-faced add textural interest to the site.

Bij Dunsany ljikt er meer aan de hand te zijn.

Dunsany. Foto: Meath on Track
Alignment Obstruction: Dunsany bridge with manhole in foreground of the
Skane Valley Sewerage Scheme facing Clonsilla. Meath County Council state that
apart from a short section (approx 100m) at Dunsany Bridge, the pipeline does not
compromise the alignment. It is 3.5m deep and bedded in concrete. (21½ MP)

Dunsany. Foto: NIAH [is dit dezelfde brug enkele jaren eerder?]
NIAH zegt:
Description
Single-arch rock-faced limestone railway bridge with string courses and copings, built c.1850, carrying the road over the former railway track which is now disused.
Appraisal
The masonry treatment of this railway bridge adds textural interest to the site. The masonry was clearly executed by skilled craftsmen. This bridge forms part of a group with the related railway structures along this disused line.

Rail Users Ireland [vooheen Platform 11] [lees verder...] heeft hier ook nog eens naar gekeken.

Dunsany Bridge looking northwards, manhole cover in foreground. Foto: Platform 11

Putdeksel duidelijk zichtbaar midden in de bedding met de brug op de achtergrond. Foto: Platform 11

Toestemming van Derek Wheeler van Platform 11 om materiaal van hun site, mits met bronvermelding, te gebruiken.

Er is dus nog heel wat te doen! We proberen de ontwikkelingen in de gaten te houden. Wie zelf nog interessante nieuwtjes heeft kan natuurlijk ook mailen naar ierland@plein.nl