Cork to get extra morning service from Dublin in new Irish Rail timetable proposal

Additional commuter services between Cork and Mallow are also being suggested

A train at the platform in Kent Station, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins

Irish Rail has published a new proposed rail timetable — which would see people arriving into Kent Station before 9am for the first time.

Additional intercity train services from Cork, Carlow, and Westport are the highlights of the new proposed timetable, which is now open to public feedback.

Additional commuter services between Cork and Mallow, Dublin and Drogheda, and Dublin and Portlaoise are also being suggested.

Irish Rail, in conjunction with the National Transport Authority (NTA), is planning to implement timetable alterations from December 10. 

The new services being put forward include

• A 6am Dublin Heuston to Cork service (Monday to Friday) arriving at 8.32am, giving a pre-9am arrival to Cork city for the first time 
• A 12.20pm Dublin Heuston to Carlow and 3.15pm Carlow to Dublin Heuston service daily (Monday to Friday) 
• A new 4.20pm Westport to Athlone and 9.08pm Athlone to Westport service daily (Monday to Saturday), providing connections to/from Dublin Heuston at Athlone.
• Connection from/to Ballina to the new Athlone to Westport above.

On top of that, there will be a "significant" expansion to Heuston to Portlaoise services on Sundays, with eight new services going from Portlaoise to Heuston and seven going the other way.

There will also be additional stops on a number of Heuston/Cork services at Portlaoise, to connect with these commuter services.

Furthermore, an extra morning peak service each way between Cork and Mallow will come into effect operating at 7.20am from Cork to Mallow and 7.50am from Mallow to Cork.

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Irish Rail says more changes will be made to existing timetables in order to provide greater connections.

Among them are:

• Four Heuston to Cork and five Cork to Heuston services on Sundays will additionally serve Portlaoise, to provide connections to the enhanced Portlaoise commuter service
• A 7.35pm Dublin Heuston to Galway (Mon to Sat) and 6.45pm Heuston to Galway (Sunday) will additionally serve Clara, providing a later final service to Clara.
• The 6.25am Galway to Dublin Heuston (Mon to Sat) will additionally serve Ballinasloe 

Irish Rail also says recent infrastructure works will mean journey time improvements on many services between Dublin, Cork, and Limerick.

This includes an express morning non-stop journey between Cork and Dublin which will take two hours and 14 minutes. A number of other minor schedule alterations will be made to improve punctuality.

The consultation survey is open until Wednesday, September 27.

A spokesperson said: "Following expansion of services in December 2022, Iarnród Éireann with the National Transport Authority have identified opportunities for further service improvements in the context of post-covid travel patterns, as demand approaches, and on some routes exceeds, pre-pandemic levels. We encourage all current customers and all considering rail for their sustainable travel options to review the proposed changes, and give us their feedback, as we finalise the new schedule.”