As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.
Within this policy framework, the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS) 2040 has been developed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in collaboration with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Cork City Council and Cork County Council. A key principle for CMATS is to reduce dependency on the private car within the Cork commuter area, while increasing the appeal of sustainable transport options, such as Cork Area Commuter Rail and BusConnects Cork.
The Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme represents the largest investment in the rail network in Cork undertaken by the State. The programme comprises a several separate but interrelated projects. The frequency of a number of rail services in the Cork Metropolitan Area were doubled in July 2022. This provided a 30 minute peak frequency on the Cork-Cobh and Cork-Midleton lines and a 15 minute peak frequency on the Cork and Glounthaune line.
Phase 1 of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme was included in Ireland’s National Recovery & Resilience Plan, as submitted to the European Commission in 2021. All works associated with Phase 1 will be completed by end-2026 as required by the European Commission.
This will see a significant investment (€164m of EU funds) in Cork’s rail infrastructure, which will facilitate the longer-term electrification of the network through construction of a new ‘through’ platform at Kent Station to create an integrated suburban network, re-signalling of the network, and double-tracking from Glounthaune to Midleton.
A planning application was submitted to Cork City Council seeking planning consent for the additional platform at Kent Station. Following approval from Cork City Council, the contract to build the through-platform at Kent Station was awarded by Iarnród Éireann in early 2023. Enabling works have commenced on site with construction expected to be completed next year.
A four-week non-statutory public consultation on the preferred option for double tracking the current single line between Glounthaune and Midleton concluded in August 2022. The feedback received fed into the Railway Order application, which was submitted by Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) to An Bord Pleanála in November 2022. An oral hearing concluded in July and An Bord Pleanála subsequently granted a Railway Order to CIÉ.
In addition to the Kent Station and double-tracking works above, in June Iarnród Éireann awarded a contract to Alstom for a major signalling upgrade project on the Cork commuter rail network, to increase the number of trains which can operate between Cork and Cobh, Midleton and Mallow.
BusConnects Cork is a transformative programme of investment in the existing bus system providing better bus services to more people. The BusConnects Cork programme brings together all areas of bus investment identified in CMATS including enhanced and new bus infrastructure, investment in fleet and service enhancements such as higher frequency and new routes serving a wider catchment.
Specialist designers have carried out a review of the current bus services and, in conjunction with the NTA, Cork City Council, Cork County Council and Bus Éireann, developed a new network of bus services for the Cork Metropolitan Area. Following an extensive public consultation process, the new BusConnects network was finalised and published in June of last year.
The draft network aims to provide an increase of over fifty percent in bus services across the city. It will provide a better overall network that will allow more people to gain more access to more places more quickly, whilst fully integrating with rail modes.
Planning for the implementation of the new bus network has commenced and it is expected that the new network will be implemented in the coming years.
Another key component of the BusConnects Cork programme is the implementation of bus priority measures, generally bus lanes, on key bus corridors serving the city. Without removing bus movements from general traffic congestion, the punctuality, reliability and faster journeys that are the key characteristics of a good public transport system, cannot be fully delivered. It is intended that the bus priority measures will enable reliable and faster bus journey times and provide journey time certainty for bus users.
In June of last year the NTA published detailed proposals for 12 Sustainable Transport Corridors, setting out proposals for bus and cycle infrastructure along those key corridors. Public consultation in relation to these plans ran until early in October 2022, with close to 3,000 submissions received.
The NTA reviewed and revised the scheme designs to take account of feedback received. A further round of public consultation on the 11 Preferred Route Options was launched on 30th March and ran until 25th May. The NTA received approximately 4,400 submissions as part of the second round of public consultation.
A third round of non-statutory public consultation on the 11 Sustainable Transport Corridors commenced in early November and will run until the 18th December.
Noting the NTA's role in relation to these issues, I have referred the Deputy's question to NTA for a more detailed response where appropriate. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.
