Train services between Dublin and Cork will double at peak times within the next three to five years, Irish Rail has said.
Journey times on the route are expected to shorten to under two hours within 10 years, under the same improvement plans.
The moves are part of a much larger proposal to improve the frequency and speed of trains on all Intercity services countrywide and, ultimately, electrify them.
Irish Rail has embarked on a €5.2 million package of studies to determine how, when, and at what cost the improvements can be made.
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“Over the next 10 to 15 years, there’s going to be substantial changes,” said Irish Rail head of business transformation, Michael Power.
The changes are to begin earlier, however, with the current hourly services on the Dublin-Cork route to become half-hourly at peak times in the next few years.
Half-hourly departures will be extended to the full day timetable in the years to follow, bringing more regional towns within a comfortable commute.
“It’s about an hour to Thurles now on the Dublin-Cork service and it’s an hour to Greystones on the Dart, but the cost of housing in Thurles is a lot more competitive than in Greystones,” he said.
“If you can go half-hourly on Dublin-Cork, it makes towns like Thurles very liveable and it’s really attractive for people who have the option of hybrid working.”
Travel times will also reduce, the aim being to shave up to 45 minutes off the current average journey of two hours and 35 minutes by the mid-2030s.
Ultimately, the target is to make it possible to travel by train between Dublin and Cork in just 90 minutes.
“We have one non-stop train that leaves Cork at 6.15am and gets in at 8.29am at Heuston Station, Dublin, so that’s a journey time of two hours 14 minutes,” said Mr Power.
“That shows what’s possible when you get a clear run and are not stopping at stations. The maximum speed we can do on that line is 160km per hour because we have stations, curves and so on. But we believe we can get to a speed of up to 200km an hour with on-line interventions only – those that don’t require additional land.
“That would be upgrading the standard of the track and the ballast, straightening out curves and some signalling system enhancements.
“That would get us up to 200km/h and get us under a two-hour journey time, about 110 minutes. We believe that we could get to sub-two hours by the mid-2030s.”
Improvements on the Dublin-Cork line would be followed by upgrades to services to Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Sligo and Westport.
Dublin-Belfast is already served by hourly departures and the aim is that all other Intercity services will also go hourly.
Clock-face timetables will be introduced, with departures scheduled at the same time every hour or at consistent intervals such as quarter-to and quarter-past rather than at irregular times.
Making services faster and more frequent will require laying long stretches of extra parallel track and spurs at pinch points. The plans also contain the objective of electrifying the entire rail network.
“Electrification decarbonises rail and gives a much quieter travel experience,” said Mr Power.
“You also get an improvement in time as electric trains accelerate and decelerate faster.”
Dublin-Cork would most likely be the line to be converted to electric first, a big undertaking requiring the erection of overhead lines, installation of substations and alterations to some bridges.
The plans are among the recommendations of the All-Ireland Strategic Rail Review completed last year, which put the overall cost at €35 to €37 billion at 2023 prices.
Mr Power said the studies commissioned would provide a clearer picture of individual project costs and examine all potential funding sources, including private-public partnerships (PPP).
Using the PPP model would be a first for Irish Rail, unlike Luas, which a private operator runs. It is also how MetroLink will run.
Mr Power said considerations of PPP were at a very early stage.
“It would probably be much more appropriate where there was building of new lines than for existing lines. If it brought new finance to the table, it’s well worth consideration.”
Irish Rail is also working on extensive urban and commuter projects, including three extensions of the Dart line and improvements within Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway.
Mr Power said all the projects were complementary and would open up land for much-needed housing in areas that would be crippled by congestion if more roads were built.
“Rail is the backbone of sustainable transport systems so the aim is that other modes of transport – Dart, bus, Luas, bike – connect with it, that there is a seamless interface at stations.”
He said the changes were vital to meet the demands of a growing and more regionally dispersed population and to provide a greener and more efficient alternative to increasingly congested roads.
“It’s not just about trains,” he said. “It’s about people. It’s about transforming how we live, how we work, how we move across the country.”
