New rail line likely to keep fares low to encourage uptake

COMMUTERS can expect knockdown return fares of just over €5 when the €100 million Cork-Midleton railway line opens in 2009.

Iarnród Éireann said yesterday that if the railway was opened tomorrow they envisaged a return fare between Cork and Midleton would be about €5.25. A single fare would be €3.55. A weekly return ticket could be snapped up for less than €20.

Irish rail spokesman Barry Kenny said that the figure might be slightly higher due to inflation between today and the spring of 2009, when the first trains are expected to run.