Early morning rail service to Cork to begin next month

Iarnród Éireann has confirmed that a new 6am service from Dublin Heuston to Cork will be in operation from next month.

The early service, operating Monday to Friday, will arrive in Kent Station, Cork, at 08:32hrs, giving a pre-9am Intercity arrival from Dublin for the first time.

It’s envisaged the new service will be particularly popular with business customers travelling to Cork.

The introduction of the new service follows a public consultation earlier this year which led to timetable changes from December 10.

An extra morning peak service will operate each day between Cork and Mallow (Monday to Saturday), at 07:20hrs Cork to Mallow, and 07:50hrs Mallow to Cork. 

There will also be additional stops on a number of Heuston/Cork services at Portlaoise, to connect with new Heuston/Portlaoise Commuter services. 

The company says journey time improvements on many Dublin Heuston to Cork and Limerick services, arising from recent infrastructure works, mean that many non-stop service will take 2 hours 14 minutes.

An Iarnród Éireann spokesperson said “we are delighted to be in a position to begin an early 06:00hrs weekday service from Dublin Heuston to Cork, and to introduce a Limerick connection from this service also. We believe this will be a very popular service, with the arrival in Cork well before 09:00hrs, and in Limerick before 08:00hrs, particularly attractive to business customers.

"We look forward to bringing these improvements to our services in December 2023, which follow previous expansion of services in December 2022.

"Iarnród Éireann with the National Transport Authority will continue to identify opportunities for further service improvements in the context of post-COVID travel patterns, as demand approaches, and on some routes exceeds, pre-pandemic levels. The purpose of investment in our network, fleet and services is to bring a better service to customers and allow more people make a sustainable travel choice.” Full timetables are now available at www.irishrail.ie and the Iarnród Éireann app, and bookings can be made, including for revised schedules throughout the Christmas and New Year period.