‘Trim needs to be ready for when the Navan rail line arrives’ - French
Calls have been made for a major park-and-ride facility and improved bus connections for Trim ahead of the proposed restoration of the Navan rail line.
The issue was raised at May's Trim Municipal District meeting following confirmation of the emerging preferred route for the long-awaited rail project, which includes a station at Kilmessan.
Independent Cllr Noel French said planning needed to begin immediately to ensure Trim was ready to take advantage of the new rail connection.
“We need to be preparing now for it,” he said.
“We need to be planning for a park and ride for Trim to use the railway. We need to contact Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Transport for Ireland so that we have a bus service connecting our park and ride in Trim that is adequate.”
Cllr French said the proposed rail service could transform commuting patterns for people in the area.
“If this train takes 45 or 50 minutes from Kilmessan into the city, that is going to have a dramatic effect on people’s lives, on their development, their community involvement and families,” he said.
“We need to be facilitating that, and we need to be planning that now.”
Social Demcorats Cllr Ronan Moore said there had already been discussions over potential land that could be used for expanded parking infrastructure in Trim.
He pointed to lands near Tower View where parking provision had previously been considered.
“There’s existing hard standing there and one of the reasons it was mentioned was because it might have to extend in the event of the rail project progressing,” he said.
Fine Gael Cllr Joe Fox warned that transport agencies needed to avoid mistakes seen elsewhere where rail infrastructure had been delivered without sufficient parking or public transport links.
“I think the NTA should be told it’s not sort of an afterthought because you can’t retrofit it down the line,” he said during the discussion.
Aontú Cllr Dave Boyne welcomed progress on the rail project but suggested alternative locations could have been considered for the station.
“If it was up to me, I would put the station in Navan North instead of Navan Central,” he said.
“That’s just my personal view, but once the station happens we have to connect Trim to Kilmessan anyhow.”
The discussion comes after Iarnród Éireann confirmed the emerging preferred route for the Navan Rail Line earlier this month, marking a significant milestone in the campaign to restore passenger rail services to Navan.
Under the current proposal, the line would extend from the M3 Parkway through Dunshaughlin and Kilmessan before continuing to Navan.
A senior council official told councillors the project is now entering a phase of non-statutory public consultation before the final preferred route is selected.
- Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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