ONE OF three new rail stations on the reopened Dunboyne railway line is to remain closed until a road is built linking it to the nearest town.
Hansfield station, at the southern end of the 7.5km line, is to remain closed because a road to the station has not yet been provided by developers.
The reopened railway route runs from Clonsilla on the Maynooth commuter line via Hansfield, and on to a new transport interchange to be known as M3 Parkway just north of Dunboyne, Co Meath.
However, in a second blow for the new service, Bus Éireann has said it will only divert one of its routes, the 111, to serve the transport interchange. The 111 route serves Granard, Athboy , Trim and Dublin.
Dublin Bus which serves Dunboyne said it would not to serve the interchange at all.
The M3 Parkway will, however, include Ireland’s largest park-and-ride site, a 1,200-vehicle facility at the southern end of the M3 toll motorway.
The reopening of the rail service was completed by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey yesterday and services for the public get under way this morning.
It was reopened at a cost of €160 million. The route from Clonsilla to Navan was closed in 1963, but Dunboyne has not been served by rail since 1947.
The new service from the M3 Parkway offers a peak journey time of 31 minutes to Dublin and 27 minutes from Dunboyne to Dublin, with services operating every half hour in each direction at peak times.
The service will operate to Docklands station from Monday to Friday and to Connolly station at weekends.
“People deserve reliable public transport options,” Mr Dempsey said, “and that’s what this new service will provide here in Meath.”
