Public consultations were held in Co Meath yesterday on the reopening of a rail link between Navan and Dublin.
As part of a "scoping study" on the extension of the line from Dunboyne to Navan, consultants held informal meetings in Dunshaughlin and Navan to seek people's views on preferred routes and stations for the line.
The study's brief, which was drawn up by Iarnród Éireann and Meath County Council, covers route selection, environmental studies, engineering feasibility studies and cost/benefit analyses. It is being carried out by Dublin-based consultants Roughan O'Donovan Faber Maunsell.
Proinsias Mac Fhearghusa, of Meath on Track, which is campaigning for the restoration of a rail link between Meath and the capital, said the public consultation suggested that some progress was being made. However, it was "public consultation with a small p and a small c", as it simply involved members of the public putting their views to a panel of consultants, with no proposed routes on display.
However, he said the completion of the scoping study would pave the way for the drafting of a land-use strategy, which would aim to ensure that population levels were developed at strategic locations along the railway.
The public consultation round is concerned with the second phase of the Dublin-Meath project, a 21-mile stretch from Dunboyne to Navan. Under the Government's Transport 21 programme, this is due to open in 2015.
The first phase, which covers the 4.7 miles to Dunboyne, is due to proceed to railway order stage by the middle of this year and is scheduled to open in two years.
