Planning permission has been approved for a new €6.5 million train station in Dublin.

Twenty years after it was first proposed, work is due to begin next year on the new station in Pelletstown, which is on the Maynooth commuter line.

The site is on the Royal Canal and sits between Ashtown and Broombridge stations, it was flagged as an 'immediate priority' in Irish Rail’s greater Dublin area integrated rail network plan and planning permission was approved in October 2014 but due to the funding issues within the transport giant, it never became a reality.

Construction is expected to take up to two years to complete, meaning the the station could be open by 2021.

Irish Rail spokesman Barry Kenny said that the station is needed to keep up with the suburb's growing population.

He told Independent.ie: "It's an area that is experiencing a significant growth in housing and it's crucial that as the population grows that public infrastructure and housing meet demands, so this new station is being built on that basis."

Online Editors