Cork - Light Rail [route options idenfication and initial design underway]

riddlinrussell · 17-08-2020 2:43pm

bk wrote: »

I suppose the question if they should turn into Mahon Point Shopping Center or not, would hinge on if they might have in the back of their minds, the idea of extending it in future, across the The Black Bridge and then into the green fields West of Passage West, opening them up to high density development similar to Cherrywood SDZ.

I suppose you could do both by splitting the lines or cross the River at a different location.

Would be a similar situation to the end of the Red Line, goes to the Square in Tallaght and then the extension heads on to Saggart.

loyatemu · 19-08-2020 2:03pm

salmocab wrote: »

I’ve no local knowledge but I use the green line in Dublin regularly and it went on the easy route. It’s not quite the same but I’d say there’s a balance between using the easy route and getting the route to the optimum places and densities of people.
The green line uses for the most part an old railway cut and whilst some of the areas it serves mightn’t have the highest densities It has the advantage of not having much interaction with traffic for that section.
All this is said based on me admitting I haven’t a clue what’s the best route for a city I don’t live in though.

even the Green line diverted through Ballyogan because the old rail route ran through very low-density suburbs in Foxrock.

donvito99 · 19-08-2020 2:06pm

loyatemu wrote: »

even the Green line diverted through Ballyogan because the old rail route ran through very low-density suburbs in Foxrock.

Wasn't it mainly because the developers financed/paid for it?

ncounties · 19-08-2020 3:03pm

loyatemu wrote: »

even the Green line diverted through Ballyogan because the old rail route ran through very low-density suburbs in Foxrock.

I had always heard it didn’t go through Foxrock, as the Foxrock-ites couldn’t dare have riff raff coming through...

marno21 · 19-08-2020 3:07pm

ncounties wrote: »

I had always heard it didn’t go through Foxrock, as the Foxrock-ites couldn’t dare have riff raff coming through...

There’s also 2 tennis courts and a car park on the alignment.

Rulmeq · 19-08-2020 6:11pm

marno21 wrote: »

There’s also 2 tennis courts and a car park on the alignment.

Looking at google maps, they appear to be private tennis courts, built on what was the alignment (have they taken them through adverse possession?)

Markcheese · 19-08-2020 9:52pm

Will it go down western road both ways ? Or could it go one way on western road and one way on the mardyke ?

roadmaster · 06-12-2020 2:06pm

The commercial director of Bombardier UK & IRL must of being smoking something, according to an article in the post today he thinks maybe a light rail scheme in Cork will become active within the next 4 years!

Markcheese · 06-12-2020 7:14pm

roadmaster wrote: »

The commercial director of Bombardier UK & IRL must of being smoking something, according to an article in the post today he thinks maybe a light rail scheme in Cork will become active within the next 4 years!

Dress for the job you want ? ( Or fake it till you make it ) , and he did say maybe ...

specialbyte · 06-12-2020 8:30pm

roadmaster wrote: »

The commercial director of Bombardier UK & IRL must of being smoking something, according to an article in the post today he thinks maybe a light rail scheme in Cork will become active within the next 4 years!

I think he's saying that the tender process will become active in the next 4 years. That would sound about right. The delivery of rolling stock is frequently 3-4 years after the tendering process. 7-8 years from now sounds a lot more realistic for the opening a Cork Luas line that is still in the very early stages of the development process.

Zebra3 · 06-12-2020 9:02pm

specialbyte wrote: »

I think he's saying that the tender process will become active in the next 4 years. That would sound about right. The delivery of rolling stock is frequently 3-4 years after the tendering process. 7-8 years from now sounds a lot more realistic for the opening a Cork Luas line that is still in the very early stages of the development process.

The Luas extension to Finglas is target date 2030 and that’s for just 4km.

p_haugh · 06-12-2020 10:42pm

Zebra3 wrote: »

The Luas extension to Finglas is target date 2030 and that’s for just 4km.

Tbf that's not in the current transport strategy so wouldn't be starting construction for another few years. Now that could be changed with the review happening currently.

cgcsb · 07-12-2020 9:41am

Zebra3 wrote: »

The Luas extension to Finglas is target date 2030 and that’s for just 4km.

It isn't a simple matter of time per km build. Cork's first luas line can be built in as quick with work on various sections happening simultaneously.

Zebra3 · 07-12-2020 7:41pm

cgcsb wrote: »

It isn't a simple matter of time per km build. Cork's first luas line can be built in as quick with work on various sections happening simultaneously.

Of course, but a 4km extension through Finglas looks easier to do than a new light rail system through a city centre.

cgcsb · 07-12-2020 9:58pm

Zebra3 wrote: »

Of course, but a 4km extension through Finglas looks easier to do than a new light rail system through a city centre.

At this stage that's not easy to determine. The luas cross city project was by a long shot the most disruptive and space constrained rail project in the state to date and it took 4.5 years to complete at about 5.5km of that about 3km was located in city centre streets which meant rolling street closures and complex access arrangements. A Cork City Centre route between a new bridge at Kent station out as far as UCC via Patrick St and Washington st would be just over 2.5km. Quite doable with a similar effort and time as luas cross city.

Markcheese · 07-12-2020 10:44pm

Is it definitely light rail ? Not brt along the same route way ..?

cgcsb · 07-12-2020 11:18pm

Markcheese wrote: »

Is it definitely light rail ?

Yes

Markcheese wrote: »

Not brt along the same route way ..?

No. It says something like this in CMATS but is quite vague, decisions are hard to make at the top you see. Current thinking is that there's no point building such a system along one route that had vehicles only interoperable with Belfast (and the NTA don't have jurisdiction there anyway) and would shortly be replaced by luas anyway. But Cork Bus Connects will no doubt include core bus corridors along Western Road and possible a special corridor to the Docklands / Centre Park Road. The corridors are not at an advanced stage as of yet. Galway's 5 bus corridors will likely be designed first. Opinion in the sector is against BRT for Irish cities for many reasons, the benefits over a bus connects style solution are minimal and it's a Deisel based solution (actually worse emissions than the new Dublin Bus fleet) if you provide overhead power then you might as well have luas for the cost.

marno21 · 22-04-2022 9:02am

Preferred route this year

https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/arid-40856369.html

namloc1980 · 22-04-2022 9:26am

Good stuff. I dread the inevitable local battles and nonsense from councillors though.

D.L.R. · 22-04-2022 2:27pm

Maybe they'll do a better job than the dog's dinner of a system built in Dublin.

Risoc · 24-04-2022 9:01pm

Had a look at the works on old Blackrock Station on the line/ greenway. Seem to have restored the Platform so it looks the works are with one eye on the LUAS. 👍🏻

thomil · 25-04-2022 11:33am

The platforms are too high for modern light rail if I'm not mistaken, so they would have to be lowered once the line actually starts construction.

Potentially stupid follow-up question: This isn't the first attempt at building a LUAS type system in Cork. How far did the previous attempt get? Did that even get to preferred route and planning, or was it derailed prior to that?

hans aus dtschl · 25-04-2022 1:11pm

Derailed, you say?

What scheme were you thinking of? I'm not aware of a scheme since the city rail networks were ripped up in the 60's or so.

whisky_galore · 26-04-2022 9:26am

Plenty hot air and the usual reports written, nothing serious ever happened.

mikeybhoy · 27-04-2022 12:36am

Would there be an argument for building the line as Irish gauge with in order to allow an option to tie it into the Cobh/Midleton lines. The Cobh and Midleton lines aren't that heavily used and converting them to light rail would help boost frequency.

It could be done in a way similar to the Karlrushe Stradtbahn or Manchester Metrolink.

thomil · 27-04-2022 11:28am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118981988#Comment_118981988

I don't think that would be a good idea. It would require at the very least a complete reconstruction of the platforms to allow step-free access to low-floor light rail trains. The line to Cobh is also an extension of the main line that comes down from Dublin via Mallow, so by introducing a break in service type by converting the Cork - Cobh/Midleton part to light rail service would torpedo any chance of developing a suburban heavy rail service.

I'm not saying that a Stadtbahn style system doesn't have a potential place in Cork, but I think that would be more of an option when it comes to reviving some of the West Cork railways, as outlined in that white paper drawn up earlier this year a number of public transport advocates. So, keep Cork - Cobh/Midleton as heavy rail with the aim of adding more stations north of Cork, keep the Cork LUAS separate, with the option of later using it as the nucleus for a potential Karlsruhe style Stadtbahn system out to West Cork would be my idea.

marno21 · 27-04-2022 11:59am

There is no advantage at all to converting the East Cork line to light rail. A seamless transfer at Kent station will be more than sufficient and far cheaper. It certainly won’t happen. Anyway, the electrified suburban rail service will be operational on this line before work starts on the Luas. The new stations will be massive for passenger growth and that line should be a great success.

There will be no railway to West Cork. That white paper published last year is almost completely detached from reality and has absolutely no chance of being implemented. Any cash available for rail in Cork should focus on the Luas and the suburban rail project.

West Cork needs improvements to its road network with heavy focus on the bus. Improving density to make bus services more viable will be a massive part of this e.g. developing the towns as much as is possible. Bypassing Inishannon would be a great start

Markcheese · 27-05-2022 2:50pm

The big advantage comes for light rail from midleton to ballincolig comes in the future - it's easier to build new stations , and it creates and east- west public transport line that most other city transport crosses ,

Any new development on the north docks could be closer to stops and not have to change at Kent .

. Does midleton need heavy rail ?

If you were going mallow , blarney ,Blackpool Kent and out to cobh would that need to be heavy rail ?

D.L.R. · 27-05-2022 11:15pm

The luas isn't light rail, its a tram.

Markcheese · 28-05-2022 6:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119124425#Comment_119124425

Well, there's a can of worms to open up ...

Is it a case of all teams are light rail but not all light rail are trams 😁

Cork - Light Rail [route options idenfication and initial design underway]

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