Mayor urges communities in North Cork to fight for more railway stations

Councillors want Iarnrod Éireann and the National Transport Authority to reopen the station in Buttevant and create new stations in Mourneabbey and Rathduff

The council heard the openings would make a number of communities in North Cork “more sustainable” and “make rail travel more of a viable option” for them in the coming years. File picture: Dan Linehan

The Mayor of County Cork has urged a number of communities in North Cork to fight for the opening of railway stations on the Cork to Limerick line.

Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan said the people of West Cork, where she lives, have bemoaned the loss of the railway in that region for many years. She wants communities in North Cork to benefit more from the sustainable travel link.

She was responding to calls from councillors representing the Kanturk/Mallow Municipal District Council for support from all county councillors to get Iarnrod Éireann and the National Transport Authority (NTA) to reopen the station in Buttevant and create new stations in Mourneabbey and Rathduff.

What's your view on this issue?

You can tell us here

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden won unanimous support from colleagues when he proposed that the council fight for the opening of the three stations. He said while the proposed upgrade of the Cork-Limerick road will help commuters, giving more people the opportunity to use public transport will have a major impact on reducing our carbon footprint.

He said that while “there is talk about eight new railway stations” along the Cork–Limerick, Cork-Cobh and Cork-Midleton lines, to his knowledge none of the three he had mentioned are in that plan.

He said the recent announcement of higher frequency trains on the latter two lines had to be welcome news for commuters living in those areas, but commuters in North Cork shouldn’t be overlooked. Mr Madden said there is a lot of development going on at present in Mallow and its peripheral areas.

Buttevant station

He pointed out that the people of Buttevant need a railway station more than most as many commute by car from there to jobs in Cork and Limerick. The railway station was never reopened in Buttevant following a train crash there on August 1, 1980.

The train, which had been travelling at high speed from Dublin to Cork, was accidentally diverted by points into a siding, resulting in the death of 18 of its 230 passengers. A further 70 were injured, some seriously. It was the worst rail disaster in the history of the State.

Buttevant Community Council has argued it is time the station there was reopened and is setting up a special committee to lobby for it. “We (the county council) should do a feasibility study ourselves on reopening these stations and we need to get community groups to meet as well,” Mr Madden said.

'Low-hanging fruit'

Fianna Fáil councillor Gearoid Murphy said the opening of the three stations wouldn’t cost much describing it as “low-hanging fruit” in terms of improving sustainable transport, as did Mallow-based Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes.

Mr Murphy said opening the station would make a number of communities in North Cork “more sustainable” and “make rail travel more of a viable option” for them in the coming years.

Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle said the council should also press for a better frequency of trains for his hometown of Charleville, similar to what’s going to happen on the Cork lines to Cobh and Midleton. 

“I will urge the people of North Cork to fight for this,” Ms Coughlan said. She said the council will be seeking community support and is to write to Iarnrod Éireann and the NTA urging them to get the three stations opened.