Re: Re: what’s going up in Cobh

Commuter ferry service to set sail E-mail
Written by David Forsythe
Thursday, 18 October 2007
Details of a state-of-the-art catamaran ferry service that will link Cobh to the city centre in just half an hour will be announced shortly according to Cork City councillor Terry Shannon.

The Cork Harbour Cats service will operate three 250-seater catamarans that will whisk commuters from around Cork Harbour into the city centre, avoiding the traffic gridlock experienced daily during rush hour in the south east of the city.

According to Cllr Shannon the service will operate three brand-new catamarans costing €3 million each which will be able to operate in all weather conditions. On-board seating will be similar to that seen on airliners and the boats will include on-board coffee bars.

Daily services will be operated from Cobh, Aghada, Carrigaloe, Monkstown, Passage and Blackrock to the city centre and the company also plan to operate tourist services around Cork Harbour. The service, operated by a Cork-based consortium is expected to begin in 2010 and will create 45 jobs.

Cllr Shannon said, “The Council has already completed the feasibility study and talks involving the operator, City Council, County Council and Port of Cork are at an advanced stage. There are a few issues still to be ironed out but we hope to be able to make a detailed announcement in January”.

Cllr Shannon also confirmed that designs for the three proposed new bridges as part of the Docklands development will allow the catamarans to operate into the city centre without any problems.

If they do it, fantastic stuff.

http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/commuter-ferry-service-to-set-sail/