Cork Transport

[lawyer]

Piece on the 'Irish Examiner' during the week from the Cork County Council advising that the traffic lights were only a temporary measure while the proposals for the split level crossing were being finalised.

[THE_Chris]

Fair enough I guess, but why bother with the lights at all?

I wouldn't be surprised if nothing more was said/heard about an upgrade of that route.

[jungle]

Does anyone know what's happening with the proposed railway stations in Blarney and Kilbarry?

They aren't included in the Midleton line Railway Order. I would have thought building a new station next to an existing line wouldn't be that difficult (e.g. Monasterevin, Adamstown), but there seems to be no impetus on them.

[THE_Chris]

Those would be in the future a bit further and seperate altogether as neither of them are on the Midleton line

[samuel j]

Piece on the 'Irish Examiner' during the week from the Cork County Council advising that the traffic lights were only a temporary measure while the proposals for the split level crossing were being finalised.

I see...... seems to concur with stories of Amgen gone..gone so to speak...so Council now have no choice... I've started so I'll finish... situation as work was well advanced so some format of a finish has to be done.

Think Chris right... we won't be hearing much about this for a while.... a shame.... the jobs were needed..

[jungle]

Those would be in the future a bit further and seperate altogether as neither of them are on the Midleton line

That's crazy really. The line is already there and in the case of Kilbarry in particular, the population is already there.

[browser]

That's crazy really. The line is already there and in the case of Kilbarry in particular, the population is already there.

I thought these were originally slated for 2008 and now 2010. It must be true, Martin Cullen said it and his word is his bond. A prince amongst men who is totally misunderstood.

The dragging of heels on Cork transport is v. deflating. Perhaps the most depressing thing was when the Greens tried to get measures re regional transport in the programme for government they were told where to go. Pretty much guarantees no substantial action on anything bar the Transport 21 Plan for Dublin...I mean Ireland for the next five years at least. I think though that the Kilbarry and Blarney stations are in Transport 21 (they probably made a mistake and thought these were in Meath or Wicklow or some other Dublin commuter town so they slipped in by accident) ?

[corkdood]

Front Page Story on Cork Evening Echo this evening about a forthcoming planning application for a reorientated rail and bus station at Kent Station site. Artists impression also. I haven't seen the print edition so do not have the full article. If anyone has a copy can they scan page 2 and put it up please.
Front page can be viewed in pdf format at http://www.eecho.ie

[Radioactiveman]

<img src="http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3286/untitledcr8.jpg">

[who_me]

Wow. That's quite a big bus/train station!

I assume that development takes up most or all of Horgan's Quay? Can't be any worse than the previous proposal for there - even if this proposal hasn't a hope of going through unscathed.

Is that a new bridge on the left?

[THE_Chris]

I'll believe it when I see it built.

[Pug]

I'll believe it when i see it - makes you wonder why they couldnt do that first day - also makes you wonder why they now think they will get planning for that tower that looks like about 20 storeys when an application for Werdna not too far away for 17 was denied

too good to be true

[phatman]

Hmm, looks like the worst elements of the Elysian and that Copley St. development stuck together and scaled up to me....or that proposal for Kyrl's Quay...even reminds me of the FÁS building....I'm not at all impressed, really cheap looking. How about some tasteful red brick/glass/stone, a bit of variety and imagination dammit!

[jungle]

I suppose some movement is desirable, but that design isn't the most inspiring. It looks like the sort of thing we'll be trying to get sorted out in 30 years time.

The most important thing is to overprovide for rail activities inside it. Once the station has been built around, it can never be expanded again.

[Pug]

The most important thing is to overprovide for rail activities inside it. Once the station has been built around, it can never be expanded again.

an extremely valid point

Just a personal opinion as well but NO to red brick - glass and stone all the way - cant wait to find out what the beehive shaped building in the left of the picture will be

[Radioactiveman]

Just to clarify a few things, And I'm open to correction on this,

This proposal is for the 'station' portion of the Horgan's quay site. The other half of the whole site is still with ABP on that appalling application submitted months back. I reckon we'll see that withdrawn from ABP and a new design submitted to match this new station element.

The manor park proposal was one of the worst things I've ever seen submitted for permission and in fairness, CCC blasted it out of the water in spectacular fashion. It doesn't have a hope in ABP. The reason such rubbish was submitted, in my view, is that Manor Park had an agreement with CIE to submit an application before Christmas of last year. This rubbish was submitted just to give the impression of movement.

While this new station proposal is welcome, it still needs serious redesigning to make it acceptable. A recent plan was published regarding doing a very similar thing for Ceannt station in Galway. I'll believe both when I see them. I don't believe CIE have the capability, will or Government support to proceed with either in a meaningful way.

[who_me]

an extremely valid point

Just a personal opinion as well but NO to red brick - glass and stone all the way - cant wait to find out what the beehive shaped building in the left of the picture will be

Likewise, I think red brick has been done to death here. On large surfaces, it can be a very bland material.

I like the contrast in heights & designs in those plans. Having said that, I've no doubt all those buildings will be scaled back to a uniform 5 or 6 stories. The plannes seem to have an affection for dull and repetitive.

[Pug]

CIE can apply all they want for their part of the site but the planners when they applied originally stated "Any application for the site MUST be accompanied by a detailed and agreed MASTERPLAN in order to demonstrate how the Kent Station / Horgan’s Quay precinct will be developed in a comprehensive fashion. "

Is CIE now giving us the Masterplan?

[Leesider]

Ryanair has announced another 6 routes out of Dublin which brings the number of Ryanair routes from there to 81, fair play but Cork airport should really try to get a piece of the action how many Ryanair routes do we have.......2!!

[Angry Rebel]

It's actually 4, Dublin, Stansted, Gatwick and Liverpool.

You're dead right though, CAA should be pushing for more, especially to continental Europe. But, and it's a big one, any deal done with Ryanair needs to be one that is good for both parties. The current situation in Shannon has been contributed to by the sweetheart deal they cut with Ryanair, which effectively makes Shannon captive to Ryanair, and means other airlines get the hump that they can't get the same deals.

[jungle]

Exactly.

One a London-Shannon return flight, Ryanair were paying a tenner less than Aer Lingus in charges and that's before you take into account the higher fees dor landing at Heathrow. That meant Aer Lingus were not making a profit if they tries to charge the same price as Ryanair.

Considering Aer Lingus serve three major hubs from Cork, they're definitely an airline Cork can't afford to lose.

Any deal with Ryanair should be dependent on them slying to destinations that aren't currently served from Cork.

Incidentally, I hear plans are afoot to sell some of the land at the airport. The problem is that it would prevent the short runway (the one that runs parallel to the access road) from being extended. Although that runway is little used at the moment, it would be far easier to extend it to a decent length for long-haul that the main runway. It would be incredibly short-term thinking if it happens.

[THE_Chris]

FFS they cant sell land! That runway needs extending if they ever want a proper transatlantic fleet from there.

Priorities at Cork Airport should be a runway extension and CAT3 installation.

[samuel j]

The short strip, prevailing winds (SW) means it never gets used as much as the other main one, so they may argue this if trying to sell it off.

[jungle]

The principal reason it's not used is because it's too short for the main airlines at the airport. Only Aer Arann and Air SouthWest can use it. For prevailing winds, a North-South runway and an East-West runway are much of a muchness.

What's crucial with the short runway is that it's easily extendable to a considerable length, when the long runway can only really have a maximum of 400 feet or so added because of the fall off of the hill on either side.

[Angry Rebel]

I have seen Aer Lingus 737s (now gone from the fleet) using the cross runway on occasion. Some airlines in Cork still use that aircraft.

I don't know why people keep insisting that the main runway cannot be extended. The ground conditions and topography are nothing that engineering can't get around. The picture below is Funchal airport in Madeira. Admittedly it was hideously expensive at €520m but we're not talking about something this dramatic in Cork....