No new parking planned for Kent station, says NTA 

THE NTA has confirmed that there are currently no plans to increase parking at Kent station, after a motion on the topic was approved by Cork City Council.

Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan proposed that the council engage with stakeholders about increasing the number of car spaces at the station, suggesting building a multi-storey parking facility or ensuring that only people getting the train parked there. 

Mr O’Callaghan had highlighted concerns about capacity at the car park said that it was "very clear that the car park is being used by a lot of people who are not passengers, so it is vital that Cork City Council, Iarnrod Éireann and the NTA put their heads together to introduce a system ensuring that only people actually using the train park there.”

He suggested a train ticket be shown to get a space, saying “at the moment, the system is clearly not working for people”.

A spokesperson for Iarnrod Éireann said: “Kent Station car park is experiencing capacity issues on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in particular; this can be attributed to more people travelling longer distances due to hybrid working practices.

“We do not have available land to provide more car parking. There are other public car parks in the vicinity and also there are public transport options to get to the station.”

They said that parking provision was a matter for the NTA who confirmed that no additional parking is planned. 

An NTA spokesperson said: “Under our BusConnects Cork plan, the Dunkettle to city centre Sustainable Transport Corridor it will be easier to get to Kent Station using public transport thanks to a proposed new bus interchange facility. The plan does not include provision for additional parking.”