New 'world-leading' battery electric trains to be running in Cork within two years — minister

Some €300m is already being invested in a new through-platform at Kent Station. Picture: Larry Cummins

New battery electric trains could be running on Cork's new €1.6bn high-frequency commuter rail service within two years, the Transport Minister has pledged.

Eamon Ryan set out the ambitious timeline in Cork on Friday as he announced the landmark next phase of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme, which is set to deliver eight new commuter rail stations along the Cobh, Midleton and Mallow lines, a new depot to store a vast new fleet, and the electrification of the entire network.

Funded by the National Transport Authority under Project Ireland 2040, Iarnród Éireann has awarded the contract for the next phase to TYPSA and Roughan O’Donovan for the design, planning and construction of:

• New commuter stations at Blackpool, Monard, Tivoli, Carrigtwohill West, Waterrock, Ballynoe, Blarney and Dunkettle, and the upgrade of the existing commuter stations;
• A new fleet maintenance depot to cater for a new electrified fleet of up to 150 carriages, with six potential sites under consideration;
• And electrification of the network.

Some €300m is already being invested in a new through-platform at Kent Station, in a massive signalling upgrade, and on the twin-tracking of the Glounthane to Midleton section to deliver a network capacity for trains up to every 10 minutes on all three commuter lines.

A map showing the proposed locations of new and commuter train stations on the proposed Cork Commuter Rail network.

Just eight trains operate on the network today. The new service will require an unprecedented fleet increase up to 30 trains, with 150 carriages.

Iarnród Eireann has a fleet contract with train manufacturer Alstom for hundreds of advanced new battery electric X’Trapolis trains, some of which have been earmarked for the Dart+ in Dublin and other intercity routes.

But Mr Ryan said the new trains would be prioritised for Cork, with the first in service by 2026.

“We are here today to give Cork back what it had once — one of the world’s leading rail systems,” he said.

The question is do you send them [the new trains] to Cork or not. And my answer is we do. We give Cork priority. 

"We make sure that new services like these are the ones that will get them first.

“And we can test and trial them here.

"These new battery electric trains are world-leading. There are not many other cities anywhere in the world operating this electrified service without overhead wires.

“This is good news for Cork, but also for the whole country because Cork on the rise balances the country and makes for better-balanced regional development.” 

Iarnród Éireann and its consultants working on this phase of the project hope to be ready to apply to An Bord Pleanála for a Railway Order — the equivalent of planning permission — by the end of 2025.