Key milestone in delivery of Cork Luas has been delayed by nine months

The State agency responsible for the Cork Luas has said it remains committed to its “timely delivery”, despite its admission that a key milestone will now be delayed by at least nine months.

In April, Paolo Carbone, head of light rail projects at Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), told this newspaper that he hoped a railway order would be submitted for the Cork light rail service in early 2028.

Now TII has said it envisages that would happen in the fourth quarter of 2028.

Railway orders are planning authorisations required to build major railway infrastructure, permitting construction, environmental mitigation, and compulsory purchases.

The deadline for submissions to the public consultation on the preferred route for the Luas Cork passed on June 12, and TII is due to publish its report on that process next month.

The next milestones after that would be the completion of a preliminary business case, the preparation of an environmental impact assessment report and then the submission of a railway order to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Speaking to this newspaper in April, Mr Carbone said he was hopeful that the first passengers would step onto trains in 2036.

Before that could happen, he said, “it is envisaged that we will submit a railway order, which is our planning, in early 2028”.

However, in a reply to a parliamentary question from Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, National Transport Authority (NTA) deputy chief executive Hugh Creegan said: “It is currently expected that a railway order will be lodged in Q4 2028.”

Asked to confirm that its plans to submit a railway order had slipped back by at least nine months, TII said it remained “firmly committed to the timely delivery of Luas Cork”.

A spokesperson said that while its current target for submitting a railway order was the end of 2028, it was exploring all opportunities to fast-track this timeline in line with the government’s accelerating infrastructure agenda.