Two new Cork bus depots by 2028 to cater for BusConnects fleet expansion  

Two new bus depots are to be built in Cork by 2028, as the city prepares to expand the fleet under the BusConnects scheme and add electric vehicles.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has confirmed that it will apply for planning permission for a permanent bus depot on the Kinsale Road this year, and a second one in Little Island next year.

The new depots will also enable the installation of chargers at the current Capwell depot, so that electric buses can be used.

A €17m temporary depot within the Port of Cork's Tivoli Industrial Estate is nearing completion, but planning conditions imposed by Cork City Council when granting permission require the site to be vacated again before the end of 2030, to enable council plans for the future regeneration of the site.

Because of this, the NTA intends to submit a planning application for a permanent bus depot at Kinsale Rd before the end of 2026, and another for a second depot during 2027, NTA deputy chief Hugh Cregan told Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould.

A spokesperson for the NTA told The Echo that it “has identified that two new depots will be required in Cork, in addition to the Capwell depot”.

Application to seek planning

A site has been purchased on the Kinsale Rd project, and an application is being prepared to seek planning consent for a bus depot there, to accommodate 100 to 150 electric buses, they said.

A second site, for an additional depot, to hold 100 to 130 vehicles, has been identified in the Little Island area, and a planning application for this is also being prepared , the spokesperson said.

“Subject to the granting of planning consent, construction on these depots is expected to commence late next year.”

The Tivoli temporary bus depot is nearing completion after multiple delays — it was originally meant to be up and running in the first half of last year.

Mr Cregan told Mr Gould that the Tivoli depot reached the stage of substantial completion at the end of May, and was handed back to Bus Éireann to carry out fit-out activities and operational-readiness assessment testing, “with the expectation that operations will commence… by late summer 2026”.

Construction began as planned in February 2025, but delays were faced, primarily due to unforeseen issues associated with underground utilities; requirements for additional fire-safety protection measures; defects identified with the electrical substation; and an underestimation of the time required for testing, commissioning, and snagging, Mr Cregan said.

It is not anticipated that the project spend will be greater than the approved budget of €17.1m, he added.

Mr Gould said: “Delays, delays, delays. That is what people standing at bus stops experience, and it is what we are experiencing with the wait for the Tivoli depot.”