Station proposals in Drogheda/Louth

[Darrman]

Every so often I read about councillors banging on about the need for another station on the north side of Drogheda. I'm making this thread here since it's not something happening on the network, it's councillor chatter, but I want to chatter a little myself.

The main operational issue I can think of is simply what's going to call at such a station? All the Dart+ plans revolve around terminating at MacBride. You could extend some terminators to this new station, but a turnback of some sort would still be necessary, as would battery charging equipment, most likely. I'd be wary of the single-track Boyne Viaduct, too.

Another question is where such a station would be best located: I'm not really in a position to answer this as I'm not from anywhere near Drogheda and have only ever passed through on trains. 

Via poking around a bit on Street View and eyeballing things on this Rail Map Online snippet, I'd probably place a park and ride station around where the Drogheda Port Access is when that road is finished. If the siding to the port still existed, I'd put a station right before the first level crossing, but that's been long lifted. I've occasionally heard chatter about opening Dunleer again or doing some silly things in Dundalk due to parking issues, but Drogheda's the main thing that comes up on my daily "Irish Rail" search.

[jhb171achill]

23 minutes ago, Darrman said:

Every so often I read about councillors banging on about the need for another station on the north side of Drogheda. I'm making this thread here since it's not something happening on the network, it's councillor chatter, but I want to chatter a little myself.

The main operational issue I can think of is simply what's going to call at such a station? All the Dart+ plans revolve around terminating at MacBride. You could extend some terminators to this new station, but a turnback of some sort would still be necessary, as would battery charging equipment, most likely. I'd be wary of the single-track Boyne Viaduct, too.

Another question is where such a station would be best located: I'm not really in a position to answer this as I'm not from anywhere near Drogheda and have only ever passed through on trains. 

Via poking around a bit on Street View and eyeballing things on this Rail Map Online snippet, I'd probably place a park and ride station around where the Drogheda Port Access is when that road is finished. If the siding to the port still existed, I'd put a station right before the first level crossing, but that's been long lifted. I've occasionally heard chatter about opening Dunleer again or doing some silly things in Dundalk due to parking issues, but Drogheda's the main thing that comes up on my daily "Irish Rail" search.

Presumably they have locals from Dundalk stopping at it. I doubt it’s remotely worth the extra expense to have the electrics go further until the day comes (1st October 7018) when they electrify the whole Belfast route.

[MOGUL]

1 hour ago, Darrman said:

Every so often I read about councillors banging on about the need for another station on the north side of Drogheda. I'm making this thread here since it's not something happening on the network, it's councillor chatter, but I want to chatter a little myself.

The main operational issue I can think of is simply what's going to call at such a station? All the Dart+ plans revolve around terminating at MacBride. You could extend some terminators to this new station, but a turnback of some sort would still be necessary, as would battery charging equipment, most likely. I'd be wary of the single-track Boyne Viaduct, too.

Another question is where such a station would be best located: I'm not really in a position to answer this as I'm not from anywhere near Drogheda and have only ever passed through on trains. 

Via poking around a bit on Street View and eyeballing things on this Rail Map Online snippet, I'd probably place a park and ride station around where the Drogheda Port Access is when that road is finished. If the siding to the port still existed, I'd put a station right before the first level crossing, but that's been long lifted. I've occasionally heard chatter about opening Dunleer again or doing some silly things in Dundalk due to parking issues, but Drogheda's the main thing that comes up on my daily "Irish Rail" search.

Likely a park and ride style operation like M3 parkway, on the Northern cross route would make the most sense..

There seems to be very little left of the Boyne road branch, past the newfoundwell sidings that were used to load Ballast in the 90s.. This was to access Irish Cement(now premier periclase) rather than Drogheda port though.. Tom Roe's never had rail access

[Northroader]

Just do it like Blackfriars’s station in London. Stick platforms and glass screens and a roof along the Boyne bridge, and have an entrance from either side river bank.

[Louth]

This issue has been highlighted locally for many years now. Virtually all the Louth TDs and Councillors are in favour of better rail infrastructure in Louth but to date nothing has been even planned. Currently the car parks in Drogheda and Dundalk stations are full from about 7.15 am on weekdays and there is little room for expansion. DART+ and the new Enterprise services are projected to double passenger numbers in coming years. However the transport planners seem to have ignored the question of parking for all the additional passengers. The ideal location for a new Drogheda North station (as suggested by Darrman), is at the intersection of the Northern line and the Port Access Northern Cross Route. Currently this road is incomplete and has yet to cross the railway line so the allocation of space for a station now would be sensible. The Louth Chief Executive recently had a meeting with Irish Rail on improved rail infrastructure and services but it remains to be seen whether this will produce results.

The ideal location for a mid-Louth station is just north of Dunleer outside the village (reopening the old station would be impractical as there is little space for parking and the extra traffic would create gridlock in Dunleer village in the morning and evening). An alternative is reopening the old Castlebellingham station at Junction 15 on the M1. 

A Dundalk South station could be located at the intersection of the Northern line and the N52. In all cases a large Park and Ride would be required.

The distance from Drogheda to Dundalk is the same as that between Malahide and Drogheda. This latter stretch of line has 6 stations at present. The Drogheda-Dundalk stretch has none. For anyone who knows the area, there are huge new housing developments both north of Drogheda and south of Dundalk with a rapidly expanding population. Why rail infrastructure isn't keeping pace (as it is in the Cork area) is a mystery.

In relation to services, the Enterprise should be left as is and new services provide by extending to Dundalk some of the existing commuter services that currently terminate in Drogheda.

As a final comment, Irish Rail state that the matter is for the NTA. In turn the NTA say that it is not in their remit because Louth is not within the Greater Dublin Area. A bit of a merry go round! I'm not holding my breath.

[Aodhán.N]

21 minutes ago, Louth said:

This issue has been highlighted locally for many years now. Virtually all the Louth TDs and Councillors are in favour of better rail infrastructure in Louth but to date nothing has been even planned. Currently the car parks in Drogheda and Dundalk stations are full from about 7.15 am on weekdays and there is little room for expansion. DART+ and the new Enterprise services are projected to double passenger numbers in coming years. However the transport planners seem to have ignored the question of parking for all the additional passengers. The ideal location for a new Drogheda North station (as suggested by Darrman), is at the intersection of the Northern line and the Port Access Northern Cross Route. Currently this road is incomplete and has yet to cross the railway line so the allocation of space for a station now would be sensible. The Louth Chief Executive recently had a meeting with Irish Rail on improved rail infrastructure and services but it remains to be seen whether this will produce results.

The ideal location for a mid-Louth station is just north of Dunleer outside the village (reopening the old station would be impractical as there is little space for parking and the extra traffic would create gridlock in Dunleer village in the morning and evening). An alternative is reopening the old Castlebellingham station at Junction 15 on the M1. 

A Dundalk South station could be located at the intersection of the Northern line and the N52. In all cases a large Park and Ride would be required.

The distance from Drogheda to Dundalk is the same as that between Malahide and Drogheda. This latter stretch of line has 6 stations at present. The Drogheda-Dundalk stretch has none. For anyone who knows the area, there are huge new housing developments both north of Drogheda and south of Dundalk with a rapidly expanding population. Why rail infrastructure isn't keeping pace (as it is in the Cork area) is a mystery.

In relation to services, the Enterprise should be left as is and new services provide by extending to Dundalk some of the existing commuter services that currently terminate in Drogheda.

As a final comment, Irish Rail state that the matter is for the NTA. In turn the NTA say that it is not in their remit because Louth is not within the Greater Dublin Area. A bit of a merry go round! I'm not holding my breath.

I think it's the politicians in louth just having their fingers in their holes (soz for any language or political stance). they go on talking while doing nothing and getting payed for it. I can think of many areas that would be decent for stations along the current line without any expansions and even more with more rail lines(yes I'm local to Dundalk)

Edited March 12 by Aodhán.N