Passive provision for a future Navan South station is included in changes.Iarnrd ireann Irish Rail is starting the second round of public consultation on the planned reopening of the railway line between Dublin and Navan. The project would be a 34-kilometre extension of the planned Dart+ network, with construction of the new electrified line expected sometime after 2030. The project is not funded as part of the National Development Plan to 2030,. A quote in a press release this morning attributed to Minister for Transport Darragh OBrien outlines that within the development plan provision has been made for the Navan rail line to secure planning permission before the end of the decade and enter construction shortly thereafter.Last year, it was revealed that the original timeline for submitting a Railway Order application, a type of planning application, by this year was being pushed back to the end of 2027, but earlier this year the timeline slipped again to 2028. This is in line with delays for a long list of rail, tram and BusConnects projects.The second consultation is part of the planning process for the company to obtain a Railway Order, which includes the compulsory purchase orders needed for the route, which is expected to have a travel time of 1 hour from Navan to Dublin City Centre and have the capacity to carry up to 4,400 commuters each way per hour.The State-owned railway company said that it intends to run trains at frequencies of up to every 15 minutes at peak times, running from a proposed Navan North station to Dublin City Centre, with stations also at at Dunshaughlin, Kilmessan, and around the former train station in Navan, which will be the Republics first station to be given the Central title. Irish Rail said its Preferred Route largely follows the alignment of the original railway line and what was presented during the first public consultation with what it calls targeted changes based on feedback and its assessment of the route. IMAGE: Route map with inserts highlighting the planned changes since the last consultation. Irish Rail said that there are changes to the proposed alignment in Rathregan and Leshemstown based on feedback received during the first public consultation, and changes south of Navan as passive provision for a future station in that location. The Dunshaughlin Park & Ride has also been moved closer to the proposed station.Irish Rail has repeated the claim that Navan is the largest town in Ireland not currently on the passenger rail network, although the town with this claim to fame is Swords, Co Dublin, which is not part of the continuous area of the city. The planned MetroLink to Swords will not change the fact that the town is not connected to the passenger rail network.The public consultation on the Navan route is to run until 5pm on Thursday December 10th 2026. Irish Rail said that it is looking for local knowledge and insight to inform the design and help it shape the project. Details can be found at irishrail.ie/navan-line, and consultation events are to be held as follows: LocationDateTimeNavan Solstice Arts Centre18 November 202616:00hrs20:00hrsKilmessan Station House Hotel24 November 202616:00hrs20:00hrsDunshaughlin Pastoral Centre03 December 202615:00hrs19:00hrsOnline webinar register for the webinar on www.irishrail.ie/navan-line01 December 202619:00hrsFollowing this, the Irish Rail project team is to review the feedback from the consultation, and proposals will be further refined. A Railway Order application is then expected to be prepared and lodged with the national planning board, An Coimisin Pleanla, in 2028. At that stage the planning board will run a statutory public consultation, and a planning inspector may or may not decide that an oral hearing into the project is needed. In a press release today, Minister for Transport Darragh OBrien said: This Government is committed to investing in Irelands public transport system, as evidenced by the 18 billion we will be investing in public transport infrastructure under the current National Development Plan to 2030. Within that, provision has been made for the Navan rail line to secure planning permission before the end of the decade and enter construction shortly thereafter.Mary Considine, chief executive of Irish Rail, said The Navan Railway will extend the Dart+ network, bringing an electrified rail service to thousands more customers daily. New communities in Meath, not currently served by the passenger rail network, will have access to high-capacity, high-frequency public transport.She added: Feedback through the public consultation process will help us deliver the best possible infrastructure and service to local communities and stakeholders.