New rail station near Blackpool gets planning green light

The planned new rail station for Kilbarry, which overlooks Blackpool village, has been granted planning permission.

The station will be located near the historic Blackpool station, bounded by Dublin Hill Road and Redforge Road, and will be serviced by up to 10 trains daily, with ambition to increase service levels further in future.

The station will feature two platforms connected by a pedestrian footbridge from either side of the railway via stairs and accessible lifts, and provide for accessible parking spaces, EV charging points, motorcycle parking, bus/taxi/car set down areas, bicycle stands and bicycle lockers.

Iarnród Éireann applied for permission for the Kilbarry station, and one in Dunkettle, earlier this year – the first two of eight stations that are proposed under the proposed Cork Area Commuter Rail programme.

The overall Cork rail project, which will ultimately see commuter trains running every ten minutes, was one of the first nine projects in Ireland to be designated critical infrastructure earlier this year, meaning it should be delivered more quickly than others.

The newly-approved station will be on the Mallow line, along with Blarney/Stoneview and Monard, while Tivoli, Dunkettle, Carrigtwohill West, and Water Rock will be on the Midleton line, and a Ballynoe station is proposed for the Cobh line.

Independent Ireland councillor Noel O’Flynn said the new station will be great for Blackpool and the surrounding areas, and mean less traffic in the city.

Fine Gael TD Colm Burke said: “This is a very welcome development. It will facilitate the development of the whole Blackpool area.

“We’re putting in an electric line, meaning there will be very short gaps between trains, and a great train service.” 

He said that this was one of many ways that traffic through the city could be reduced, adding that the Cork Luas was another important project which must be progressed.

“The station in Kilbarry is really welcome. It’s only the first step, but it’s an important step,” he said.

Blackpool and Dunkettle stations are being progressed now because they sit on land Iarnród Éireann already owns. Construction on both is expected to start in 2027 and take up to two years.

It is the second attempt to build a new rail station in Kilbarry. Planning permission was granted in 2008 for a station with 100 parking spaces. CIÉ secured a five-year extension, but it lapsed in 2018 without development, "precluded by funding constraints at the time," according to the planning report. The site's rail history goes back further still. It is part of the old Kilbarry station, which was the temporary terminus of the Dublin to Cork line from 1849 to 1855, before the Glanmire Tunnel opened and services shifted to what's now Kent Station.