Fears cutbacks will see plans for railway station shelved

FEARS have been voiced that plans for the opening of a new railway station near Blackpool in Cork city may be shelved indefinitely due to Government cutbacks announced in the budget.

It comes as Transport Minister Noel Dempsey confirmed earlier this week that the €5 million project to re-open the former station at Kilbarry will not now proceed as planned this year.

The new station is located near Dublin Hill at the north exit of the railway tunnel on the main Cork-Dublin line.

Mr Dempsey said the decision was based on the fact that a development adjacent to another proposed station at Blarney had not yet commenced. The new station at Blarney is linked to the development of a major new town centre in the north city suburb, including the construction of around 1,500 new homes.

A spokesperson for Mr Dempsey said funding for Kilbarry was being postponed on the basis that Iarnród Éireann wished that both stations would be built in a similar time frame for operational reasons.

“Development around the proposed Blarney station has been slower than expected, however, and the commencement of development of that station has been pushed back. As a result, Iarnród Éireann has deferred the development of Kilbarry until 2010,” said the spokesperson.

Local Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen said the lack of development at Blarney was no basis to defer plans for the re-opening of the station at Kilbarry.

“It’s a fig leaf being used to try and justify a breach of an election promise made by the Government about improving commuter rail services,” said Mr Allen.

Kilbarry was scheduled to open at the end of 2009 as part of an extension of services on the Cork Suburban Rail Network which will include the re-opening of the station at Midleton in June.

Mr Allen said there had been significant development in the Kilbarry and Blackpool area over the past few years to justify the re-opening of the station.

However, Mr Allen expressed concern that the station’s opening could be delayed for many years.

Fianna Fáil TD Noel O’Flynn said it was disappointing that the opening of Kilbarry station would not go ahead this year, but stressed that it was understandable in view of the general economic situation.

Mr O’Flynn said he would not like to see the project being axed entirely.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said the company was awaiting further details of its revised funding before it could indicate a new time-scale for the opening of Kilbarry station.