Resumption of Youghal train services would alleviate traffic woes, says railway group 

The East Cork Railway Alliance wants the section of the rail between Midleton and Youghal reopened

Youghal railway station in the early part of the 20th century. 

A group behind a petition to reopen Youghal’s railway line in East Cork hopes to add thousands more to the 15,000 signatures it already has ahead of a presentation it will make in the Dáil next month.

The East Cork Railway Alliance (ECRA) wants the section of rail between Midleton and Youghal reopened, saying it is a “no-brainer” solution to the current gridlock on main roads in the region and, in particular, congestion at peak hours on the eastern approaches to the Jack Lynch Tunnel.

County councillors have continually highlighted delays there, which they claim are now worse than before the €220m upgrade of the junction. The local authority has said it is liaising with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on potential remedies.

ECRA chairman Michael Beecher said momentum is gaining to have the rail link reinstalled, especially since senior Irish Rail officials said there is still enough room on the original corridor — which is now the Midleton-Youghal Greenway — to accommodate a train service as well.

The Cork–Youghal railway opened on May 21, 1860. Regular passenger services were withdrawn 103 years later but it remained operational for cargo shipments, especially sugar beet, until August 1982.

Cork schoolchildren's summer excursion to Youghal leaves Lower Glanmire Road station. File picture: Irish Examiner Archive

“Before a lot of the railway lines were closed in Ireland, it was acknowledged that we had the best railway service per mile of any country in Europe,” Mr Beecher said.

Originally, an online petition was organised but in recent weeks Mr Beecher said ECRA decided to expand this to written petitions, which have been supplied to several outlets in East Cork and West Waterford.

I decided to put written petitions into pubs, takeaways, shops, chemists etc in Youghal, Castlemartyr, Killeagh, and Ballymacoda, and in Kinsalebeg, Ardmore, and Tallow in Co Waterford,” Mr Beecher said. “There has been a fantastic response. Our volunteers now plan to expand this to Midleton, and Cappoquin, Lismore, and Dungarvan in Co Waterford.

Mr Beecher says he remembers the packed trains from Cork City which used to bring thousands of day-trippers to Youghal beaches on summer days “when there was such a sea of people, you could hardly see the sand”.

He said the reintroduction of the service would not only reinvigorate the town’s tourism economy but enhance sustainable travel.

Mr Beecher said his organisation’s members, who meet once a month, will make a presentation to the Dáil next month, organised by Cork East Sinn Féin TD Pat Buckley.

ECRA says that its research has shown that many commuters from the far reaches of East Cork and West Waterford are driving to Midleton to get the train into Cork, which is also clogging up roads in their areas and adding needless emissions.

While Irish Rail said that the greenway could also accommodate a rapid service bus link between Youghal and Midleton, Mr Beecher said ECRA’s preferred option would be the reintroduction of a permanent railway service.

“We know the reinstatement of a rail service between Youghal and Midleton will not happen overnight. But we are confident that the government will give the nod to it in the next five years, and it could be reopened within 10 years,” he said.