Irish Rail add weekend commuter services in Cork and more intercity services nationwide
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Several new weekend train services will be introduced on Cork’s commuter rail lines before the end of the month.
Irish Rail confirmed the introduction of the extra services as it announced its new timetable on Friday which will deliver a raft of new train services and increased intercity frequency for passengers in Galway, Belfast, Waterford and Wexford too.
In Cork, the improvements will see 10 new Saturday services in each direction on the Cork to Cobh commuter route, delivering a clockface half-hourly (on the half hour) service on Saturdays.
The new timetable also includes four new Sunday services in each direction on the Cork to Cobh line and six new Sunday services in each direction on the Cork to Midleton commuter line, delivering a clockface hourly (on the hour) all-day service on both routes on Sundays.
There will be more intercity train services to and from Galway and Waterford, with later final departures to and from both cities and the timetable is moving from a two-hourly to an hourly service on the Dublin to Belfast line.
There will also be some changes to stopping patterns, with rail passengers on the Sligo to Dublin Connolly route benefitting from an interchange with the Luas Green line, with the proposal to stop all services at Broombridge, as opposed to a limited number of services currently.
Additionally, Kishoge Station on the Heuston commuter line will open on Monday. All the additional services will kick in from August 26, except for the hourly Belfast services, which will commence later in the year.
To facilitate that change, departure times will change on many DART, Northern commuter and Maynooth commuter services.
Irish Rail also announced an expansion of its intercity railcar fleet by 41 new carriages — from 234 carriages to 275 — which it said will lead to improved capacity on a number of existing services, including from Newbridge/Hazelhatch to Connolly/Grand Canal Dock, from Tralee, Galway, Westport, Limerick and Waterford to Dublin Heuston, and on the Sligo to Dublin Connolly line.
These improvements will be phased in by October.
The timetable was confirmed following public consultation in May and June, in conjunction with the National Transport Authority, in which 1,930 people participated.