Taoiseach: Cork's €185m rail upgrade is a 'game-changer'

An Irish Rail Intercity train at Kent Station, Cork. Extra capacity has been added after social distancing concern last weekend.

The Taoiseach has described a new €185m upgrade to Cork City's railways as “a game-changer” for the county.

Micheál Martin and transport minister Eamon Ryan announced the upgrades as part of the Government's €1bn recovery plan.

The money will be spent in upgrading the lines on the north of Kent Station, allowing for the construction of long-mooted stations at Blackpool, Tivoli, and Blarney.

In total, €524m of the plan to guide the economy through the Covid-19 recovery will go on transport, the Government announced. This will see €185m go towards the metropolitan commuter rail line in Cork.

Mr Ryan said yesterday was an important day for the people of Cork.

What we're signalling here is the start of a major investment in a metropolitan rail network for Cork — a transformation of the city," he said. 

"A commuter line that will run not just from Cobh, but from Midleton to Mallow, running through Kent Station, putting in new stations in time, the likes of Tivoli and Blarney and Kilbarry and other locations,” he said.

Mr Ryan said there are 30,000 houses zoned beside land near those stations, which is a “signal” to councils and developers for “transport-led development”.

Mr Martin told the Irish Examiner: “I think it's very welcome news. And I think it would be a game-changer in respect of how Cork develops. I am looking forward to further plans in terms of the Metropolitan light rail initiative that has been developed by the local councils. So I think it's a very good model of what should happen across the country.

In fairness, Eamon has been passionate about this, and what it represents really is marrying development opportunities with public transport. So you get a far more efficient return on investment and expenditure.”

Meanwhile, the first steps in developing a Northern Ring Road for Cork are to be taken shortly.

Cork City Council will oversee the ring road project, as it controls the vast majority of the land the highway will be built through.

It is envisaged the road will link the M8 (Cork-Dublin motorway) with the planned M20 (Cork-Limerick motorway) and the South Ring Road near Ballincollig.

The development of a North Ring Road has been a long-standing objective of Cork's city and county councils.

It is one of a number of important proposals outlined in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) with a long-term objective of relieving and improving traffic across the city.