Transport Summit: Greenway progress helps ease pain of rail line reality

Cathaoirleach Cllr Eugene Cassidy said there wasn’t much point in councillors from North Meath asking about a rail line “because the only way you’ll get a train in North Meath is on the back of a lorry”.

Everyone knew how long it was going to take to get the rail line restored to Navan and the construction date was the most important question in people’s minds.

He wanted to know if there were any other major projects in the pipeline, ahead of the Navan rail project.

He wanted to acknowledge Irish Rail’s cooperation when the old rail line was being transformed to a greenway. Back in 2011 he had met the IR property manager Mick Danagher. "If Mick Danagher had said no on that first day then the old railway line would be covered in briars and bushes", he said. "It was great to see the way Meath Co Council and Irish Rail had worked together to deliver the greenway."

Cllr Paul McCabe said that in relation to the “fairer fares” strategy it was the case that Kells fell outside the Dublin commuter zone and he hoped that that exclusion would not result in increased fares.

Kells had one of the highest “cost of journeys” structures adding that the 109A service had been diverted to exclude DCU last year and this was an issue that caused a lot of concern locally. "There are two dedicated services in the morning for DCU but he would like to see statistics as to how many people were using those services.

He wanted to know how Bus Eireann driver recruitment campaigns were proceeding. He said he had heard there was a shortage of mechanics. “We might have the services and the drivers but we might not have the mechanics”, he said.

There should be real time updates available on bus cancellations, he said.