Yesterday, the All Island Strategic Rail Review was finally, finally published, after over a year of delay. The publication was continually pushed due to the lack of a government in Northern Ireland – as a crossborder initiative, it was required for relevant departments from both governments to sign off on it. Nonetheless, all of its contents were finally brought to the Cabinet yesterday, and were finally revealed to the public. The report promises never-before-seen investment, but what will it mean for the people of Cork?
Cork is ahead of the curve
Many of the direct rail benefits that Cork will see have already been in the pipeline for some time, namely the upgrades to the Cork suburban rail that were first brought to fore in 2019. The double tracking of the section between Glountaune and Midleton has already progressed to hearing stage, and much has been made of the new stations that will be brought to the region. Service frequency has already doubled along the Cork to Midleton and Cobh routes. As such, there isn’t anything especially juicy in terms of new rail stations or routes in the Cork Metropolitan Region.
West Cork Rail was considered but ‘parked’
Despite our efforts last year in the West Cork Rail Report to provide a comprehensive overview of how rail services can return in an efficient manner to West Cork, the review details that rail will not be returning to West Cork. This is, of course, deeply regrettable. As with the point above, this is not new information, with Minister Ryan having rejected our proposal last year. One thing which is a positive, is that our report was seemingly considered in at least some capacity, in the form of a line connecting West Cork to Cork Airport, and onward to Cork Kent. This was ‘parked’ for two reasons. The first, was that demand was projected to be insufficient. The second was that the rail route was expected to have an adverse effect on an area of outstanding natural beauty. While we disagree with these conclusions, we are grateful for the consideration, and this is something which we will pursue further in the consultation period.
Carrigaline, however, is mentioned as a large town that will lack any form of rail transportation after the review. This is briefly addressed, in which an extension of the Cork Luas system is mentioned to link both Carrigaline and Cork Airport to the rail system. Similarly to the point above, this is something that we explored in the West Cork Rail Report, and suggest that a combination tram-train system may be most appropriate for such connections. One point of contention from this is that Cork Airport will be the only main airport on the island of Ireland without a direct rail connection, as Shannon, Dublin, and Belfast International will all gain important rail connections.
Non-Cork Benefits
For one brief second, let’s acknowledge there’s a world outside of Cork. Railways will return to Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan after a long absence. Limerick will gain a significant suburban network. A direct connection will return to Wexford and Waterford/Rosslare. Northern Ireland’s western half will see a major new route from Derry to Dublin. And there’s even more. This is incredibly significant, especially given the almost complete stagnancy of the national rail network since the 1960s – nothing of this scale has ever been proposed. This is the work of a great many local activists, campaign groups, and those rare politicos with their ear to the ground. The potential for a renaissance in railway construction is massive, not just over the next decade but stretching long into the future.
Improving the Cork-Dublin rail trunk
The Cork to Dublin route, the most important ‘trunk’ of the mainline rail network, is to be fully electrified, likely using overhead electric wires. This will enable improved reliability, better passenger experience, as well as higher speeds. It is expected to achieve ‘higher speed’ rail of 200km/h, which is likely to be better suited to the national network than full high speed rail – as great as high speed rail would be, it isn’t the right fit at the current time. It will enable the journey to be completed in less than two hours (likely around 1.5 hours with all improvements implemented), reducing the travel time by half an hour to an hour, and improving competitiveness with motor vehicle transport. This will be achieved through a number of measures, including introducing passing loops for slower trains, straightening curved sections of track, and through the aforementioned electrification. One of these will be a new straight section of track between Portarlington and Hazelhatch, bypassing the Kildare and Naas stations and section of track.
Dublin Airport will receive a rail connection, in the form of a spur from the line at Clongriffin. Cork to Dublin Airport services are mentioned as a feasibility, pending the delivery of a ‘cross Dublin solution’ likely in the form of the much-studied underground tunnel between Houston and Connolly. This ‘cross Dublin solution’ would also enable direct Cork to Belfast services. The higher-speed Cork-Dublin route would increase to half-hourly frequency, as one of the country’s busiest routes.
Cork to Other Cities
These connections are some of the most significant from the report, providing faster, direct, and frequent services between Cork and nearby cities. There is the aim of hourly services from Cork to Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. There will be direct services from Cork to Limerick and Galway. Additional upgrades at Limerick Junction will allow for direct services from Cork to Waterford. These are some of the most significant benefits for regional connectivity, with the need to change trains at Limerick Junction removed, as well as the reduction of the Cork-Waterford train route to less than 2 hours. Services ongoing from Cork to Wexford/Rosslare Europort are not mentioned explicitly, though would theoretically be enabled by the new Waterford-Wexford rail link. It is a similar situation with the new Shannon rail spur which has been progressing over the past two years, where direct Cork-Shannon services will also be feasible.
Line speed increases will be the chosen method to improve services, instead of a new direct line from Foynes to Charleville.
Freight and the Port of Cork
A freight line to Ringaskiddy was considered, but dropped due to being ‘costly and disruptive’ (we prefer the terms ‘significant investment’ and ‘transformative’.). A freight service will connect Marino Point near Cobh with the greater rail network. The Marino Point connection will act as the rail connection for the Port of Cork. An inland freight depot is expected to be built in North Cork, on a site with both rail and road access, possibly between Charleville and Mallow. There are additional investments in freight across the island, with the aim of increasing freight usage from less than 1pc to between 5 to 10pc, roughly in line with that of other island and peninsular rail freight operations in Europe.
The report endorses ‘tunnelled solutions’ in urban areas. Both Dublin’s mentioned east-west link, and areas through Drogheda and Lisburn will utilize tunnels. This approach may have played a part in the rejection of certain railway extensions in and around the Cork City area, such as the Cork Airport and Ringaskiddy connections. There are alternatives to tunnelling which are discussed in the West Cork Rail Report.
Consumer Experience and Journey Times
There is a short section on customer experience, and the need to improve lighting, warmth, and availability of food and other services at stations. Wayfinding and information is also noted as being important as part of ongoing efforts to improve service quality. There is also mention of need for better accessibility at stations, though does not go into great detail on how this will be achieved.
There is much focus on improved journey times. Achieving these is a stepped approach, with improvements often necessitating several different efforts. For instance, improvements at junctions may improve by 10 minutes, new sections of direct track by a further 10, etc. Many of these will be significantly faster than by car.
- Cork to Dublin will drop from almost 2.5 hours to 1.5 hours (vs over 2.5 hours via car)
- Cork to Dublin Airport will become almost 2 hours (vs just under 3 hours via car)
- Cork to Galway will halve from around 4 hours to around 2 hours (vs 2.5 via car)
- Cork to Waterford will become 1.5 hours
There is no specific mention of improvements along the Cork-Tralee, the Mallow-Tralee track is noted as being approved for on-line upgrades, which will likely be straightening of track, implementation of passing loops, and improved service frequency between Cork and Tralee.
Short Term Upgrades
Within the short-term (by 2030), the report recommends improvements at Limerick Junction to facilitate through services from Cork to Limerick and Galway. Other improvements to improve speed on the Cork-Dublin trunk line are also recommended. There are many other items for the short-term list, such as safeguarding of new route corridors, but no other ones particularly relevant to Cork.
Caveat Emptor
Of course, the report is primarily advisory for the time being, and implementation is subject to the *political guidance and implementation* of both jurisdictions. The (valid) tendency is there to be all suspicious about major projects, but railway projects have been progressing as well as expected over the past few years. Clearing work has begun on new lines around Limerick, and upgrades around Cork have already begun to see a doubling of commuter service frequencies. New carriages for the network have already been ordered. Other parts of the report are already (technically) underway, especially those related to capacity and service frequency. There is much cross-pollination between this and other plans and strategies like the National Development Plan and the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy. The last major project by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Luas Cross City, was completed in 2017 on schedule and on budget. Don’t let your politicians off the hook – contact your TD or councillor and tell them you support this and want to see more trains, better service, and increased connectivity.
If there is anything we have missed, please let us know. There are several hundred pages of additional supporting documents behind this report, which we have made every effort to read as thoroughly as possible.
Conclusion
The All Ireland Strategic Rail Review is transformative for rail services across the island. This will be the largest investment in the rail network in living memory, and if delivered in full can give Ireland railway services to be proud of. It is, of course, not perfect – there is room for further improvement throughout the consultation period (open until September 29th!). Most of the content isn’t news on the Cork side, with additional connections already underway, or ruled out, but the real good news is in the potential for significantly improved connections to nearby cities and across the region. Higher speed rail will provide a 21st century solution to Cork Dublin connectivity, while Cork Kent will become a major hub for railway services in Ireland.
There are still some ways in which connection can be improved, and we will pursue additional information relating to new stations or rail corridors during the consultation period to inform any campaigns going forward.
Cork Commuter Coalition 