Cork Area Commuter Rail (CACR) [Old archived version]

Glounthaune to Middleton double tracking work to start on the 23rd of September, BAM Ireland have been awarded the contract.

https://www.c103.ie/news/c103-news-and-sport/works-to-twin-track-glounthaune-to-midleton-rail-line-to-start/

BAM is broad-ranging group, and it has multiple, independent divisions in Ireland. I guess you’re referring to the Children’s Hospital, on which BAM Buildings is the primary contractor. This rail contract was not awarded to that division; it was awarded to BAM Civil Engineering, a separate division, whose rail work includes the Luas Citywest extension and extensions to the Red Cow and Sandyford Luas depots. All of those projects were completed on schedule and on budget, so there’s no reason to not award the company this one.

BAM also building the new Waterford railway station and in charge of the enormous Ceannt station redevelopment, both of which are still on track and as far as I’m aware, on budget for their early 2026 openings

IÉ has an ongoing programme to install lifts at stations - Cork Kent should currently be underway now, with the work finishing at the end of September. The current project only goes to 2024, and does not include Cork Commuter stations, but there may be a follow-up.

It’s for greater accessibility - I have never used the lifts at Kent, but I believe that not all of the station platforms were accessible by lift. This is to fix that omission.

The lift programme is ongoing, but will end at the end of this year 2024. The new works at Little Island station opened in March, and as well as (finally!) a proper exit to the north side (i.e., actual Little Island) of the station, there are now two large lifts in place for a new overbridge. That’s the standard of improvement that will be implemented elsewhere.

I would imagine that when the current (2020-2024) programme ends, another will be started. It has been a very popular programme, and we’re due an election soon…

Does anyone know what the plan is for the Little Island footbridge over the N25? I don't know much about County Council jobs. Also, does anyone have any update on Kent Platform 6? I looked at the drawings before but I couldn't understand how you access it. Will it be outside the building, on the Horgan's Quay side, or within the building but further east of Platform 5?

The footbridge is part of the plan but long term. In hindsight it should have been done as an additional add on with the interchange upgrade.

It'll be on the same level as the extended platform 5. Just the opposite side. Access via the subway as is currently for platform 5, but a second ramp will be put in place.

You've answered your own question, there. Dublin is only "special" in that it has three mainline stations, so you need a way to distinguish them, so that's why you hear "Heuston", "Connolly", "Pearse".

If another city had a second mainline station, then the same thing would happen.

I think it's actually a good idea not to use the honorary names at all: mistaking "Ceannt" and "Kent" is something that's easy to do, and very, very annoying to undo once you're on the train.

I guess my issue is more that for Dublin it’s just Heuston and not Dublin Heuston in the stations. Meanwhile for Cork, it’s generally just Cork or Cork Kent. There seems to be an assumption everyone knows Heuston means Dublin and no one knows Kent means Cork. For example, when I got the train to Dublin on Thursday, it said “this is the X hours train to Heuston from Cork stopping at Mallow, Thurles, Portlaoise and Heuston”

I agree with Zebra, Cork Central makes more sense. In that instance, Heuston could be Dublin West, Connolly could be Dublin Central and Pearse could be Dublin East. When Blarney and Blackpool are added, will it say “Heuston to Cork stopping at Mallow, Blarney, Blackpool and Cork”? I understand not having it just as Kent, but then it should be “Dublin Heuston to XYZ and Cork Kent”. I don’t know. Again, minor things. But it just gives me this vibe that Dublin is recognised as a real city and a big capital city, while Cork is this tiny town no more important than Banteer or Templemore

Obviously there are much more important things for Irish Rail to be focusing on..

Good to see it will have a bi-directional cycle track for the whole length of the bridge, and not just another shared space treatment!

Not sure if this was already mentioned, but the dedicated footbridge was put through planning and the initial design was done by Arup. It's definitely being progressed somewhere. If only because the TII and NTA couldn't be dragged kicking and screaming into sorting out a pedestrian and cycle entrance to Little Island that doesn't involve dashing across roundabouts. They want to signalise the Crompán roundabout too. And there's a Co Co plan for a bus gate into Eastgate from the West. No idea where any of these plans are currently at.

Aha, you got there before me. No idea where it is now though. That and the bus gate into Eastgate from the West.

I am not strong in the area of trains, but know the local area. There's more than double-tracking planned: BAM seem to clearly have the double tracking piece, including crossovers and sidings, but there's no mention of the planned new stations at Waterrock and Carrigtohill West. Could two new stations and extra rolling stock and drivers etc take up the difference maybe?

I would have to say that I disagree strongly here. Not only for the 1916 patriots after which the stations are now named, but naming a station ‘central’ ‘east’ or ‘west’ just feels very boring and is something done in essentially no cities in Europe. It makes far more sense having the stations named after a street or part of the city, or in this case, after a person, is done very commonly in mainland Europe.

However I do agree that all intercity trains should announce their Dublin terminus station as ‘Dublin Heuston’ ‘Dublin Connolly’ or ‘Dublin Pearse’ in common with the rest of the cities around the country and also just to make it easier for tourists getting around.

Finally though I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about announcement discrepancy between the different Cork city stations as the trains from Dublin will only ever stop at Mallow and Kent!