Cork-Midleton train needs more carriages, space for bikes and e-scooters

By Peter McCarthy, Corkman

The popular Midleton to Cork commuter train needs more carriages to meet the demand for the service during peak times and also to allow bikes and e-scooters onboard, a local councillor has said.

Speaking at this week’s meeting of the East Cork Municipal District (MD), Cllr Eamonn Horgan put forward a motion calling on the MD to write to Irish Rail to request that sufficient carriages are available from Midleton at peak hours and also to look at including sufficient space for bicycles and e-scooters at those times.

Cllr Horgan said commuters have contacted him to say that the train is “very busy and sometimes packed” during peak times. “Sometimes there are only two carriages from Midleton heading towards the city,” he said.

In addition, bikes are not allowed during peak times while e-scooters are not allowed at all, which is working against active travel policies and the goal of sustainable travel, according to the Social Democrats councillor.

“Transport links need to work symbiotically and work for the people, so when you’re putting a bar on one mode of transport, it makes it increasingly difficult to get to your destination. This is more obvious when getting to the city and bus services are unreliable due to traffic and there is no other form of public transport between Kent Station and the likes of MTU or UCC,” he said.

Cllr Patrick Mulcahy agreed with the motion and said he has received many complaints in recent weeks about an insufficient number of carriages on the route. “The trains at peak times have been inundated with not even standing room available on some of the trains in the mornings heading to Cork. So it needs to be addressed urgently,” he said.

Cllr Ann Marie Ahern also supported the motion and said it’s odd that passengers can bring a bike on to the Cork to Dublin train but not the Midleton to Cork one. “To me it's actually more frugal to put them on the Midleton to Cork one, where the commuting will be done afterwards, rather than the Cork to Dublin one, where you have a Luas line and other forms of transport to get you around.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor also called for better disability services on the route such as an extendible platform. “I was on the train myself last Wednesday and there was a woman trying to get on with a walking frame, but she had to wait for Irish Rail workers to come with the ramp. And then she had to wait on the other side to get off with the ramp,” she said.

The MD agreed to write to Irish Rail raising the views expressed at the meeting. The Cork to Midleton rail service opened in 2009 and has proved popular with commuters living in the East Cork town. Irish Rail is currently laying a second track along the route as part of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme, which aims at providing a train every 10 minutes on the commuter lines to Midleton, Mallow and Cobh.