“Long-suffering commuters of Drogheda need clarity on the long-term future of our rail service”
Louth Labour TD Ged Nash has called on the Minister for Transport to detail his department’s plans to build a new rail line along the M1 from Drogheda to Clongriffin.
The proposed new rail line could provide a long-term solution for long-suffering local commuters, who have witnessed chaos on the Northern Line in recent weeks, as the rail timetable was rewritten and then rewritten again, according to Deputy Nash.
He said: “A proposal to build a brand new rail line from Drogheda to Clongriffin, along the M1 route is mentioned in the All-Island Strategic Rail Review and has resurfaced recently in media reports.
“In a recent article in the Sunday Independent, a Department of Transport official confirmed there are realistic plans to pursue the construction of an M1 rail link. However, the department also said that no decision had yet been made on the project.”
Deputy Nash said: “The long-suffering commuters of Drogheda need clarity on the long-term future of our rail service to Dublin.
“Changes in the Northern Line timetable and the extension of the Dart to Drogheda will add increasing pressure onto the line and the department appear reluctant to pursue a four-track option for the Northern Line although the department admits that this option would be “technically feasible”.
“A brand new rail line option for Drogheda, along the M1 route to Clongriffin could be another valuable solution to providing a sustainable and reliable rail service to our town in the years and decades that lie ahead.
“I’m asking the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan to flesh out these proposals and state publicly his department’s position on this project.
“I want to see him make a commitment to the people of Drogheda to examine this potentially game-changing proposal very seriously and carry out a feasibility study on the project.”
Deputy Nash said he intends to table a Parliamentary Question on the issue to the Minister for Transport.
