Navan railway station

The station served the centre of the town, and was on the branch line between Drogheda and Oldcastle, which was opened by the Dublin and Drogheda Railway in 1850^[1] and became part of the Great Northern Railway in 1876. The station was one of two serving the town, the other being Navan Junction, which served as the main station and was on the junction of the Clonsilla-Kingscourt and Drogheda-Oldcastle branch lines. Navan station was much smaller, with a single bi-directional platform serving the single track.

Navan station, along with the branch line, was closed in 1958 to passenger services. However, the station remains relatively intact, with several freight trains per day still serving the station to and from the Tara Mine.^[2][3]

In 2007 the campaign group Rail Users Ireland called for the restoration of passenger services on the Oldcastle line - as a commuter service between Navan and Dublin. This was because the planned passenger Dublin-Navan railway line from Clonsilla, which is expected to use the Midland Great Western Railway alignment, will not reach Navan until undetermined future time. Rail Users Ireland's proposal was for Navan station to be reopened and two new stations (Navan East and Duleek) to be built, allowing a commuter service of 65 minutes into Dublin.^[4]

In 2024, the line was again proposed for reopening by the Commuter North Rail Users Group, who suggested it could be renamed the "Boyne Valley Railway" and provide a train service to Navan and tie in to the DART+ scheme,^[5] as the direct line to Dublin is not expected to open until at least 2036.^[3]

A rail replacement bus was introduced in 1958 and this route continues to this day as Bus Éireann route 188 (Navan-Slane-Duleek-Drogheda with a latter extension to Trim). Until the 1980s/early 1990s the bus also served Drogheda railway station and until the 1990s or early 2000s the bus to Drogheda commenced and could be boarded at Navan railway station. Route 109 of Bus Éireann serves Cavan-Navan-Dublin.