Cork-Midleton-Youghal train line reopening not ruled out by Irish Rail
Iarnród Éireann has been steadily upgrading the train lines to the east of Cork City, with frequent trains to Cobh and Midleton. The latter line reopened in 2009, but the railway company has yet to commit to reopen the link to Youghal.
The reopening of the Midleton-Youghal railway line, or its use as a future rapid bus corridor, has not been ruled out, according to a senior Irish Rail official.
Irish Rail project manager AJ Cronin said the width of the original land which was set aside when the railway was constructed is sufficient to build a twin track alongside the greenway which is currently being developed.
Mr Cronin made the comments at a meeting of the East Cork Municipal District Council while delivering an update on plans to improve the Cork-Midleton commuter service as part of a €1.6bn project to provide better frequency of trains and new railway stations in the county.
When asked by councillors about the possibility of reopening the Midleton-Youghal rail link, Mr Cronin said Irish Rail had inserted a clause in an agreement with the council on the construction of the greenway that it could use the route at any time if it wanted to reopen the railway line.
“At some point in the future I don’t see why we wouldn’t review [this corridor] for a railway line or for a bus rapid transport route,” he said.
Mr Cronin said while the greenway takes up some room there's still enough land for a transport corridor to run alongside it.
While the reopening of a rail link would involve “multiples of millions and take a number of years”, he said there would be “long-term benefits” in doing so.
Irish Rail has witnessed a huge surge in demand for its train services in Co Cork in recent years. In 2019 there were 480,000 passengers on the Cork-Midleton line. This surged to 707,000 last year. On the Cork-Cobh line, passenger numbers rose from 917,000 to 1.294m, and on the Cork- Mallow route it rose from 249,900 to 368,000.
In response to a query from Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty, Mr Cronin said the increased frequency of trains from Midleton-Cork to every 15 minutes - and 10 minutes when the project is completed in 2025/early 2026 - will see the average journey time remain at approximately 23 minutes.
The company is buying new electric/battery-operated trains from France which have a greater acceleration and deceleration and will be able to cover the same route in similar time, despite additional stops at new stations. They stations will be developed at Carrigtowhill West; the new town being developed at Water Rock, a major park and ride at Dunkettle and a further stop at Tivoli.
The upgrades will necessitate night-time closures of the East Cork connection. From Mondays to Wednesdays from July to December there will be reduced late night services to Midleton, with the last trains at 7.45pm. After that passengers will be bused.
Next year there will be some weekend closures and sometime in 2026 a two-week closure of the line for testing.
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