Landmark €50m contract for design of eight Cork commuter rail stations
Includes Hub Transport Larry Station Of The Kent Contract To Development A Cummins Next Picture:
A landmark contract will be announced today for the design of eight long-mooted commuter rail stations and a new depot to store a vast new 150-strong fleet for metropolitan Cork's €1.6bn high-frequency commuter rail project.
The €50m contract, the fourth on the journey to delivery of the Cork Commuter Rail Project (CCRP), will be confirmed by Transport Minister Eamon Ryan in the city this morning at an event also attended by Iarnród Éireann chief Jim Meade and National Transport Authority chief Anne Graham.
The has learned that the contract will have three specific and significant work packages, including:
- The design of, and option to build, eight new stations on the commuter rail lines which run from Cork north to Mallow, east to Midleton, and south to Cobh, upgrades to the existing nine commuter stations, and the development of a major multi-modal integrated transport hub next to the city’s Kent train station;
- The design of a new fleet depot for up to 150 carriages, with six sites under consideration;
- The electrification of the network following confirmation that static charging of a battery electric fleet at the termini and depot has been identified as the preferred option.
Mr Ryan is expected to hail today’s announcement as a major step towards the delivery of the CCRP - the rail-based element of the 2021 Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Study (CMATS), a transport blueprint for the region.
He will confirm that the design, plan, and option-to-build contract for this latest works package has been awarded to a joint venture involving Roughan O’Donovan and TYPSA.
They will design new stations for Monard, which is earmarked for a new town, for the site of a former train station at Kilbarry, near Blackpool, at a new site in Tivoli, where significant residential growth is planned on Port of Cork land, at Carrigtwohill West, Water Rock, and Ballynoe, as well as two strategic park-and-ride train stations at Blarney, to support major residential growth at Stoneview, and at the Irish Rail-owned North Esk site in Dunkettle.
At least five stations will be delivered almost immediately, with others coming later as housing is developed nearby.
Subject to planning being granted, and funding, which is in place, it is hoped that all of the work will be completed by 2030.
Funded by the National Transport Authority and EU resilience funding, the huge CCRP has been split into seven work packages, with three major contracts already under way — the €23m through-platform project at Kent Station, the €180m signalling and communications upgrade of the network, and the €90m dual-tracking of the Glounthaune to Midleton line, where construction is due to start within weeks.
With the award of today's contract containing three work packages, just one work package remains — the replacement of the city's existing 1994-built train fleet and the purchase of a vast new fleet of up to 150 carriages to service the expanding commuter rail network to facilitate the ultimate 10-minute service frequency.
AJ Cronin, Iarnród Eireann's delivery manager for the CCRP, described the scale of investment as unprecedented.
“This is effectively the largest investment in heavy rail in Cork, in the regions, ever. It is a really significant investment in public transport,” he said.
"It will meet and deliver the vision that was set out in the CMATS.
“Today, Irish Rail operates eight 1994-built two-car 2600 diesel cars — 16 vehicles — on the Cork to Midleton and Cobh routes. That’s going to go to 150 vehicles by the time we're finished."
Once the line between Glounthaune and Midleton is dual-tracked, trains could run up to every five minutes between the city and Glounthaune, effectively a turn-up and go service.