Cork Luas could arrive by 2036 — but costs have surged to as much as €2.5bn

By 2036, Cork City could see the first trams on its streets since 1931 'subject to funding and permission'

Image showing the planned LUAS route through Bishopstown GAA Club.

Cork could have its Luas within a decade, but the cost will now be closer to €2.5bn — more than double the project’s initial estimates.

Speaking at the launch of the preferred route for the Cork light rail system, Paolo Carbone, the head of light rail projects at Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), said the first trams could run by 2036 “subject to funding and permission”. 

Mr Carbone said he was hoping ground would be broken on Luas Cork before the 100th anniversary of the last trams running in Cork on September 30, 1931.

“Public consultation on the preferred route will run until June 12,” Mr Carbone told the launch event.

“After that, we will consider the feedback and refine the revised route.

“It is envisaged that we will submit a railway order, which is our planning, in early 2028.”

TII head of light rail projects Paolo Carbone said it was hoped ground would be broken on the Cork Luas before the hundredth anniversary of the last trams to run in the city, which were taken out of service in 1931. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

Allowing a year for An Coimisiún Pleanála to grant planning permission, Mr Carbone said the project would then go to tender.

Construction should begin by 2031, he added.

“Typically, a project of this scale takes five years to build,” Mr Carbone said.

“So, I hope to welcome you all in 2036 on the first tram.”

On Friday, TII unveiled the preferred route for Cork City's Luas light rail system, with up to 27 stops between Ballincollig and Mahon Point. Picture: TII/PA

When the emerging preferred route for Luas Cork was published last year, unofficial estimates put its likely cost at “€1bn-plus”.

However, construction inflation has since affected those figures.

“Currently, we are budgeting in the region of €90m-€120m per kilometre for light rail,” Mr Carbone said.

With the preferred route now running at just over 20km, that would mean Luas Cork might currently cost between €1.8bn and €2.5bn.

It is the first time anything approaching a definitive timeline has been offered for what Taoiseach Micheál Martin has predicted will be a “transformational project” for Cork. 

A scheme showing the preferred route of Luas Cork. See below for links to the public consultation which runs until June 12. 

However, one observer at the preferred route launch at 1 Lapps Quay on Friday suggested that the phrase “subject to funding and permission” was doing a lot of heavy lifting at a time of growing economic uncertainty in the region.

Separately, TII chief executive Lorcan O’Connor said Luas Cork will not be a 24-hour service, but rather will probably run from 6am to 1am each day.

“It’s unlikely to be a 24-hour service, as you need to be able to service the track, and that would be common to all rail services around the world,” he said.

With the latest round of non-statutory public consultation running until Friday, June 12, Mr Carbone said he had one ask of the people of Cork: “Engage, engage, engage.”

• You can contribute to the public consultation on the Cork Luas here on Transport Infrastructure Ireland's website. 

• As part of the consultation there will be four open days in May.