'A massive issue': Cork City Council to seek to engage with authorities over Kent station parking concerns

CORK City Council is to seek to engage with the Department of Transport and Iarnród Éireann over the parking situation at Kent Station after a motion by Fine Gael city councillor Shane O’Callaghan received huge support.

He proposed that Cork City Council call on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan and the Department of Transport to engage with Cork City Council with a view to increasing the number of car parking spaces available to passengers travelling on trains from Kent Station.

Mr O’Callaghan said the current parking situation at the station is “a massive issue”, saying that he has experienced it himself when getting the train and also gets a lot of complaints from his constituents.

He noted that Kent Station car park costs just €8.50 to park for 24 hours, considerably cheaper than other options in the city, and said there are a lot of offices nearby which do not have anywhere to park, suggesting that lots of the people in the car park are not actually getting the train.

“You could drive into the car park if you’re getting the train at 7am in the morning and it’s already full, then you might go around the corner to the one at the quays and, a lot of the time, that’s full as well.

“You’re under time pressure by then, and because these car parks are full even early in the morning, people are invariably going to have to park on the side of the street and get a fine.

“It’s not acceptable, and for anyone getting the train from Cork to Dublin for a few days, they could build up multiple fines.”

He added that there were signs on the train showing the reduction in CO2 emissions by taking the train instead of a car, saying: “It’s way more environmentally friendly, so using the train should be encouraged.

“But what we are doing instead is discouraging people who want to do the right thing.”

His motion to increase the number of car parking spaces was passed by councillors on Monday night and met with huge support.

There are two ways to increase the number of spaces, Mr O’Callaghan explained, saying: “The first one is to provide a lot more parking, whether this is getting more land or building a multi-storey car park.

“But also, another way would be a system where in order to get a parking place you’d have to show a train ticket, because the parking is only €8.50 a day, people are parking there and they’re not getting the train at all,” he said, with others agreeing that a review of the current system was badly needed.

“Any solution would have to involve all the stakeholders: Department of Transport, Iarnród Éireann, and Cork City Council,” he said.