Irish Rail asks public to have their say on proposals to build eight new train stations in Cork

Company publishes documents for public consultation on preferred locations for the new stations at Blarney/Stoneview, Monard, Blackpool/Kilbarry, Tivoli, Dunkettle, Ballynoe, Carrigtwohill West and Water Rock

The Cork Area Commuter Rail programme is the largest ever investment in the region's rail network and aims to provide high-frequency capacity for trains to run every 10 minutes across each of the three commuter lines to Mallow, Midleton and Cobh — handling up to 16 million passenger journeys a year.

Irish Rail says it is fast-tracking plans to build eight new commuter train stations in metropolitan Cork, and  five could be built by 2030 pending planning and funding approval.

The rail company on Wednesday publishes details of the preferred locations for the new stations, for two new park and ride facilities on the city’s northside, for a new fleet depot in East Cork, and proposals for the full electrification of the fleet as part of its wider €1bn Cork Area Commuter Rail (CACR) programme.