Meath TDs should fight for rail link

Dear sir - In contrast to Paul Melia's piece in the Irish Independent on 16th June last, entitled 'Just four people on board new train route costing €250,000 a year to run', why have parts of the country underused new infrastructure while other parts and major towns such as Navan have unavailable infrastructure? Where is the Navan Rail Link to serve the major town of Navan and the county where studies have shown the majority of the people living in Meath and nearby regions are dependent on private transportation with almost 70 per cent travelling to work by car? Why is the Navan Rail Link not being progressed by the five out of six government TDs who represent Meath in the Dail? When the Minister for Transport deferred the project why did they not stand up and fight for a piece of infrastructure the county is in dire need of? Since the minister put the brakes on this infrastructure fuels prices for the commuter have rocketed. Despite the fact that we have five out of six government TDs in Meath why could the Railway order not have been lodged - which would have acquired the land required along the route and cost in the region of €70 million to ensure the route to Navan remains accessible? Phase 1 from Dublin's Docklands station to Pace on the Navan side of Dunboyne has been open since 2010 with over 20 services a day currently running. Phase 2 was to bring the rail link from Pace to Navan along a 34km twin track line to serve Dunshaughlin, Kilmessan and Navan Town by 2015. It surely is the future and the lifeblood for the town of Navan and would for many commuters allow the option of switching from the car, motorcycle and bus to a more direct, modern rail network and one that would be a highly used service by the public and the work commuter into Dublin City. Having this piece of infrastructure would allow another relic of the Celtic tiger be instantly accessible to workers commuting from Dublin and other towns and currently for sale / let by CBRE in the Navan Business park. Census 2011 put Meath's population at 184,135 persons a 13.1 per cent increase on Census 2006. Navan town now has 28,158 persons, Dunshaughlin 3,903 and Kilmessan 586, I certainly believe the Navan train route will be carrying way in excess of four persons per train let alone per carriage. Yours, Ken O'Donoghue, Athlumney Village, Navan.