175 years of railway history in Navan

One anniversary this year, which we could not let go unmarked, is the 175th anniversary of the arrival of the railway in Navan, Co. Meath. While it has become something of a railway backwater in recent decades, currently being a freight-only location, the town has a rich railway history, with lines once emanating from it in four directions; it was effectively the nexus point for railways in Co. Meath.. And, as we shall see, it is to play an important in the future of the Dublin commuter rail network too.

Navan’s first railway

The railway arrived in Navan in early 1850, when the Dublin & Drogheda railway opened a branch line from Drogheda. Construction had commenced in 1847. Interestingly, when the railway advertised that the fares from Navan to Dublin would be the same as those from Drogheda, almost akin to an early example of the ‘fare zones’ we see on commuter rail networks today. The initial timetable offered three trains each way between Navan and Dublin every day, except Sundays. A major engineering achievement was the construction of an impressive seven-arch viaduct over the Boyne, immediately before the station. The company would go on to lay a line to Trim (opened 1853) and Oldcastle (1863).

In addition to passenger and freight traffic, the cattle trade would be a major user of the line, giving rise to the establishment of a cattle fair in Navan during the 1850s.

In 1876, following the merger of several smaller companies, this line would come under the auspices of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). In 1885, the new company would construct a station building in their distinctive yellow brick style as designed by their architect, William Hemingway Mills, giving it a certain family resemblance to their stations at places such as Howth, Malahide, Drogheda, Dundalk, and Lisburn, among others.

Enter, The Dublin & Meath Railway

Despite the success of the line from Drogheda, it was a rather circuitous route to Dublin, and local interests called for the construction of a more direct line. In fact, these calls had existed since before the Drogheda route was even constructed. The Dublin & Meath Railway was established in 1858 to create a railway connecting Athboy and Trim with Dublin. However, the following year, they changed focus to establishing a line between Navan and Clonsilla, where it would join the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR)’s mainline from Dublin Broadstone to Galway. Work was completed in 1862, and services commenced in August of that year. It had its station in Navan, although this would later be superseded, as we shall now discuss. Later in 1862, a connection was laid between the two Navan routes, allowing through running to Kells from the Dublin & Meath line. The line would be leased to the MGWR in 1869, who purchased it outright in 1888. As with the Dublin & Drogheda route, the cattle trade was a major earner for the route.

Navan Junction Station

Navan was to gain a larger station, known as Navan Junction, in 1872. This resulted in the closure of the 1862 Dublin & Meath Railway station. This was a four-platform station, marking the intersection between the Dublin & Meath route and that from Drogheda. The same year, the Navan & Kingscourt Railway opened a line to Kilmainham Wood, before reaching Kingscourt in 1875. This branch would be worked (and later purchased) by the MGWR, and ran parallel to the GNR line west of the station before diverging north. Thus, Navan Junction essentially became a junction serving four points of the compass. It was jointly served by the GNR(I) and MGWR, with each company having its own platforms.

The decline of Navan’s railways in the 20th Century.

The Irish railway system reached its peak in the early 20th century. In 1914, the MGWR opened an additional station in the Navan-Kingscourt line at Proudstown to serve the nearby racecourse. However, after WWI, the economic downturn, and the rise of motor transport, would see the start of a retraction across the Irish railway network. The MGWR had become part of the Great Southern Railway in November 1924 (known as the Great Southern Railways, plural, from 1925), prior to merging with the Dublin United Tramway Company (DUTC) to form CIÉ in 1945. lines between Clonsilla and Kingscourt were closed to passengers in early 1847, although freight would continue until 1963. The lines would see some passenger specials and railtours, such as the Irish Railway Record Society’s ‘Meath Lines’ railtour in June 1961.

Meanwhile, the GNR was making attempts to make its services to Navan more economical to run. This included the development of diesel railbuses for lightly used routes, and various models would see use on the Drogheda-Navan-Oldcastle route. This was, quite literally, a bus running on rails, and Railbus 1 (which spent time on this route) an now be seen in the Ulster Transport Museum at Cultra, near Belfast. Railcar A also saw service on the branch in its final years.

Following financial difficulties, the GNR(I) was nationalised in 1953, becoming the Great Northern Railway Board, controlled by both Dublin and Belfast governments. Unfortunately, the GNR’s financial woes continued, with the company applying to close its Oldcastle line to passenger services in October 1957, only seeing occasional railtours or specials thereafter. Navan and Oldcastle lost their passenger services in 1958, the same year the GNR was finally dissolved and split between CIÉ and the Ulster Transport Authority. Freight (including sugar beet) would continue to these locations, along with the former MGWR route via Clonsilla, until 1963, when CIÉ finally closed all routes to Navan except that via Drogheda and the Kingscourt branch. From then on, gypsum trains would run to Dublin (and thence Limerick) via the Drogheda route. The Drogheda-Navan would also stay open for general goods traffic until 1977. The quiet nature of the Navan-Drogheda line saw it used for film work in this period, including the Pink Panther Strikes Again in 1976.

However, 1977 was certainly not the end of the railway in Navan. In 1970, zinc ore was discovered near Navan, leading to the Tara Mines site opening in 1977. This would see a short section of the Navan to Oldcastle branch reopened a new stub constructed between a site known as ‘Tara Junction’ and the mines. This would see the line busy for several decades to come, with three or four zinc trains each way operating between the mines and Dublin Port daily. While passenger services never recommenced, GAA specials would continue into the 1990s, which led to relatively modern rolling stock such as mkIII push pull carriage sets and 201 class locomotives visiting Navan as late as 1996. It was also a popular destination for enthusiast railtours, indeed, the last passenger train to date appears to have been the Irish Traction Group’s “Europort and Mellon” railtour on 19th October1996.

A hopeful future for Navan’s railways

With Navan being perhaps the biggest town in the Dublin commuter belt not served by passenger trains, there has been much lobbying over the past 30 years to see such services reestablished. The line between Clonsilla and Pace (branded M3 Parkway) was rebuilt in the late 2000s, with passenger services returning in 2010. Onward rebuilding to Navan has seen a number of false starts, but its reopening is now committed to under the National Transport Authority (NTA) Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042, with RPS and Arcadis appointed as design consultants. Projected to open between 2030 and 2035, Navan is to gain a new central station as part of the project, and a direct passenger service to Dublin, avoiding the more circuitous route via Drogheda, which is already quite congested.

After years of decline and stagnation, the future for railways in Navan is very bright indeed.