Campaign to restore old Cork-Youghal rail line is firmly ‘on track’

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

A group fighting for the restoration of the train service between Youghal and Midleton say the campaign is “on track” and they aren’t discouraged by the hefty price tag put on the project by an Irish Rail official this week.

Speaking at a meeting of the East Cork Municipal District, AJ Cronin, Delivery Manager for the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme, told the elected members that "on today's prices I would say it's probably plus €200 million to deliver a reinstated full railway to Youghal” with the work taking five to ten years to complete.

Mr Cronin added that Irish Rail would “have no issue whatsoever reinstating a railway line. We're really, really happy to do that. But today there is no plan, there is no funding and there is no approval to do so.”

The East Cork Rail Alliance, which has secured 20,000 signatures in support of restoring the historic train service, argues that a train connecting Youghal to Cork city would create a crucial link from East Cork and West Waterford, alleviate traffic congestion on the N25 and give an economic boost to the seaside town.

The alliance’s Michael Beecher told the Irish Independent that he wasn’t disappointed by Mr Cronin’s statement. “We have a great relationship with Irish Rail. Our first goal was to get established last year, which we did. So our target now is the deputies, senators, MEPs and councils. So that's what we're really pushing for now, this is our main agenda, is to actually get it on future development plans,” he said.

Mr Beecher said the goal is to get the project into the Corporate Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy. The strategy is due to be reviewed this year by Cork’s two local authorities, the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII).

“So basically what we have to do is to get all the public reps to push to get submissions into the NTA, Cork City Council, Cork County Council and TII to put it on the plan. There is a window of opportunity there,” he said.

The group is due to address the East Cork Municipal District next month and has already met with local and national politicians, including MEP Billy Kelleher. Waterford County Council has passed a motion supporting the train restoration and there are plans to bring a similar motion before Cork County Council.

Regular passenger services from Youghal were axed back in 1963 and the 23 km rail corridor between the town and Midleton now hosts a greenway. Mr Cronin confirmed that Irish Rail has retained the right to reinstate a railway on the same land but Michael Beecher said there is no threat to the greenway.

He said that at a meeting with Irish Rail “we were assured that that fine amenity would never be ripped up. So that should reassure people that we're not against the greenway. Big money was spent on it and it’s not suddenly going to be rooted up. That's not going to happen.” He believes there is “ample room” in the corridor for both the greenway and a rail track and extra land can be acquired in places if required.

Mr Beecher thinks that the major developments on the Midleton to Cork city line, which are part of an overall €1.8 bn investment in Cork’s commuter rail network, will benefit the prospects for Youghal in the long run. “We know we're in this for the long haul. Ten years is not a long time, I'd be very, very happy to see a train in Youghal in ten years,” he said.