Letters to the Editor: Vision of Dart-style system a non-starter

A reader believes a Luas-style light rail system would work well for Cork

A computer-generated image of the Cork LUAS system.

Regarding your reports and editorial of Wednesday, January 3, which seem to suggest support for a Dart-style heavy urban commuter rail solution to expanding rail transport for Cork — rather than the more versatile Luas-style light rail — there are several reasons why the vision of a Dart-style system is a non-starter.

While it is a great idea to electrify the only two suburban Cork rail routes from Kent Station to Midleton and Cobh for heavy Dart-style trains, on many similar routes in many other cities around the world — such as Amsterdam, Koln, and Manchester — sections of former heavy commuter rail route (e.g the Manchester-Bury line) have been successfully converted to light rail, boosting capacity and enabling addition of many new stations due to the lower cost of constructing stations for trams over full-size trains.