Preferred Cork Luas route to be announced this year 

AN emerging preferred route for the much-anticipated Cork Luas project is set to be announced later this year, the deputy CEO of the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said.

Hugh Creegan was speaking during a press briefing in Cork outlining the NTA’s plans to develop 12 sustainable transport corridors (STCs) comprising 54km of new cycling and walking infrastructure as well as 75km of new dedicated bus lanes in the city.

When asked about the Cork Luas project, Mr Creegan said developing a “quality bus service” in advance of the Luas is highlighted in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS).

Mr Creegan said there will be “a recognition” within the Luas alignment of the new STCs.

“Parallel work is going on at the moment to identify the appropriate alignment for Luas and we’ve fed in the corridors that we’re proposing here into that.

“I can’t guarantee that it will be exactly coincident at every point but there will be a recognition within the Luas alignment of the corridors and the services that we’re putting in place under BusConnects.

“It will be later this year, probably towards the end of the year, before there is an emerging preferred alignment determined that would be available for release,” he said.

In August 2020, Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the NTA announced that Jacobs Engineering Ireland had been awarded the contract to undertake a route options analysis and develop initial designs for the proposed Luas Light Rail Transit (LRT) which will run from Ballincollig on the western outskirts of Cork city to Mahon Point in the east.

The 17km Luas project is a key element in the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, published by the NTA in 2020.

The proposed Luas scheme will provide a high-capacity, high-frequency public transport link and will serve a large number of significant destinations including Ballincollig, the proposed Cork Science and Innovation Park (CSIP), Munster Technological University (MTU), Cork University Hospital (CUH), University College Cork (UCC), Cork city centre, Kent Station/Cork North Docklands, Cork South Docklands and Mahon.