Cork Area Commuter Rail

At first certainly, but if they manage to keep this service pattern up, it will attract more passengers in the future. One thing that should happen though is the provision of additional bus services to Kent station to allow for easier transfers. Right now, I think only the 205 and 214 serve the station on a semi-regular basis. The bus stop at the south side of the station has enough capacity for extra services and I don't think the old main bus stop on the north side of the station is used at all anymore, so the space would be there.

Agree with the above - a late night service would be very welcome and used.

Well as a regular to daily user of the services i would say just before covid the station car parks at Little Island and Glounthane were pretty full alot of the time. Some of my work colleagues coming from east cork would drive to Little Island or Glounthane rather than using the nearer midleton or cobh, simply because the frequency at little island and glounthane allowed them more flexibility. So these users will hopefully take advantage of the increased frequency.

I think a park and ride east on the line at dunkettle with the increase in service frequency would be a massive boost and encourage alot of people coming down the M8 to park up and use rail if their final destination is city centre.

This is great, a lot more flexibility now for using the trains, something that will hopefully lead to increased use. Fully agree with the calls for later trains, even just on Friday/Saturday would be a huge benefit.

Carrigtwohill IDA needs a stop!

Well they started the work on the line this morning after having had ballast on the site of the old tivoli station for a few weeks and then rails appeared on the same part this week. They had tied the cables back to the wall on the side of the track(by the houses) last week and this morning they were working on the level crossing and the track was lifted between there are the skew bridge on the line out of cork.

What exactly are they doing in this time? I'd have no clue about the reasons for it. Good chunk of work done, is it only daytime work?

Ah I'd have thought that the tracks that were there (coming from cobh/midleton lines) didn't need any work until far closer to the station itself

I meant page 1 and 4 in the link there. Making the interlink to the city bus services easier.

Sort of like Closedown on tv, when you should all be in bed, but unlike tv, Irish public transport hasn't moved with the times.

In fairness, I can't really remember any rail lines comparable to Cork's suburban rail lines being operated for much longer than 11 PM when I was still living in Germany. Granted, the S-Bahn services in large cities like Frankfurt, Hamburg or Berlin would operate until 2-3 AM, and some lines serving their respective airports would be 24/7, but outside the S-Bahn network, you'd be hard-pressed to find dedicated suburban services that went on for longer than 11. My own line, the "Niddertalbahn" out of Frankfurt, would run its last service direct from Frankfurt at 9.45 PM, with the last, shortened "Lumpensammler" (Best translated as "rag picker", the general term for the last service for the day) service departing from the station where my branch split from the mainline at around 11 PM.

They have since extended services so the last non-stop service leaves Frankfurt at 11.45 PM, but that is a development of the last couple of years, so I think that you can cut Irish Rail some slack here.

Yep Amsterdam isn't late night / early morning and I've been caught out in Frankfurt plenty times too.

Berlin is 24/7, but most other cities I've been in stop at a reasonably early hour.

I think it's the personnel shifts too, rather than the noise concerns.

A new footbridge is planned into Eastgate. A new footbridge was also just announced for over the platforms too, including lifts. A new bus is planned through Little Island also with fairly significant road changes to accommodate it. So those will all help a bit. The current route into Little Island is fairly hostile for pedestrians and cyclists to say the least.

Lots of people are using that train right now. I'd guess something like 30 per train, so a few hundred every day. It's not terrible but it could definitely be better, no question.

Question re leap card. Can i get the train and bus from the train station on the one leap card fare?

A new toll on the N8 between dunkettle and the city centre would provide plenty of passengers. Speaking of which whybare there still national roads designated in Cork City Centre?

I presume you're thinking of Tivoli area.

If you do that, you push a lot of the associated traffic onto northside rat-runs unfortunately. I'm in favour conceptually of tolling to promote modal shift (and reinvest the collected money directly!) but I think a city congestion charge might be the only way to achieve it.

I get the reference.

At least the 3rd option isn't ruled out. Would maintenance works be taking place every weekend? Would seem a waste not to run it due to maintenance if they were relatively infrequent. But again, I'd know nothing of the extent of the works so maybe it is done each week, no point starting later trains if they're not able to run 1 out of 3/4 weeks

Public consultation on Double tracking Glounthaune to Midleton is now open.

Anyone interested, including those wanting later services should provide the feedback.

https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/about-us/iarnrod-eireann-projects-and-investments/cork-area-commuter-rail/glounthaune-to-midleton-twin-track-project

That seems quick for a decision. Great to see it going ahead.