Louth County Council has committed to funding a feasibility study into a proposed North Drogheda train station, according to Louth Labour TD Ged Nash.
Nash said the commitment was made during a meeting between the council and local Oireachtas members on Friday, with the council also intending to work with the National Transport Authority on the study.
The proposal for a second station on the north side of Drogheda has been discussed for years as the town has expanded.
“I have done significant work on this important project for many years and with Cllrs. Michelle Hall and Pio Smith. All local representatives want to see this project happen,” Nash said.
He welcomed the council taking responsibility for progressing the feasibility work.
“I am very pleased that the Council will take on this responsibility and they deserve credit for doing so.”
Questions over who should progress the project
Nash described the proposed station as an “orphan project”, arguing that responsibility for advancing it has previously fallen between several bodies.
“The problem is that this is what I have described as an orphan project,” he said.
“The Minister for Transport has been ducking and diving on it. The National Transport Authority says it is not a matter for their functional area and they won’t do the feasibility, and Irish Rail do not have the initiative in their capital programme.”
The question of who should progress a new station has been raised repeatedly in the Dáil.
In September, the Minister for Transport said proposed new stations were a matter for Iarnród Éireann in the first instance and referred parliamentary questions on a North Drogheda station to the company.
Earlier correspondence raised by Nash also stated that the NTA did not consider developing the case for a North Drogheda station to fall within its remit.
Minister says there is ‘logic’ to North Drogheda station
The issue was raised again in the Dáil on 8th October by Louth TD Joanna Byrne.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said a new station in north Drogheda was not currently planned, but acknowledged the case for examining one.
He said there was “logic” to a station on the north side of the town and that population growth, development patterns and railway patronage would form part of any consideration.
The Minister also pointed to the northern access route as providing future opportunities for enhanced rail infrastructure in the area.
He told the Dáil the proposal was on his list not simply to be kept under review, but to examine how it might be delivered and what it could cost.
Nash expects study to demonstrate demand
Nash said he believes a feasibility study will strengthen the case for the project.
“I have no doubt, working with the NTA, that the feasibility study will prove what we all know – that there is an evidence-base and a demand for a new North Drogheda station.”
The proposed station would serve the growing northern side of Drogheda, where substantial residential development has taken place over the past two decades.
The council commitment described by Nash is an early step and does not mean the station has been approved, funded for construction or added to Iarnród Éireann’s capital programme.
