An extra platform funded by the EU has officially opened at Cork Kent railway station.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Ireland’s European Commissioner, Michael McGrath, and Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, were at the official unveiling earlier.
The extra platform is a step towards creating a ‘turn up and go’ train service every ten minutes.
The €23 million platform project, funded by the European Union Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), “marks the beginning of the first phase of investment in Cork’s heavy rail network envisaged through the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme”, Iarnród Éireann said.
Eventually Cork is promised eight new stations, a new depot and a fully electrified railway network as part of a €1 billion programme.
EU funding is supporting many of the projects which make up the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme.
As well as the new platform, extra railway tracks are being laid between Glounthaune and Midleton. That work, along with signaling upgrades, is expected to be completed by the end of next year.
Iarnród Éireann says that the work will result in extra network capacity to allow for significant increase in train service frequency on each of Cork’s commuter lines.
The Taoiseach said the opening of platform 6 was a “fundamental step” towards “improved rail transport capacity and frequency, but also in providing a more accessible, efficient and reliable rail service for the people of Cork.”
The new platform was delivered with €23 million from the EU’s fund set up after the covid crisis, the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
Ireland’s European Commissioner, Michael McGrath, said the funding was to support “a more sustainable and integrated transport network for the people of Cork.
It is a testament to the crucial impact of EU funding in building greener, more resilient transport solutions that benefit communities and economies alike.”
Once fully delivered, the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme promises to provide “a seamless, more efficient and integrated transport network for Cork, with a multi-modal transport hub at Kent Station to promote modal shift from the private car”, according to Transport for Ireland.