Cork to get electrified commuter lines and new stations

[Snow1964]

Announcement from Ireland, 8 new stations around Cork, new electrification

Iarnród Éireann will announce later today the appointment of consultants to oversee the construction of eight new commuter rail stations to the north-west and east of Cork city.

Contracts have also been awarded by the rail company for the appointment of consultants for the electrification of the Cork commuter network and for the provision of a new maintenance depot for an electrified fleet of up to 150 carriages.

The work will involve the construction of six new commuter rail stations at Monard, Blackpool, Tivoli, Carrigtwohill West, Waterrock and Ballynoe, and the construction of two park-and-ride commuter rail stations at Blarney and Dunkettle.

Iarnród Éireann said it anticipates the work will be completed by 2030, subject to the granting of planning permission and the allocation of funding.

The work will facilitate ten-minute frequency on Cork commuter trains on the Mallow-Cork, Midleton-Cork and Cobh-Cork lines.

Services on these lines currently operate on a 30-minute frequency.

Details of the appointment of consultants to oversee the building of the new commuter stations and a maintenance depot, and for the electrification of the fleet will be given at a briefing in Cork this morning by Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan and Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive Jim Meade.

Plans for the electrification of the commuter rail fleet in Cork comprise 150 vehicles, consisting of 30 five-car train sets.

A location for the new maintenance depot to service and store the fleet has not yet been selected.

The work is in addition to three separate projects currently under way on the rail network in Cork, representing an investment of almost €300m.

The first project consists of the provision of a new "through" platform at Kent Station in Cork, to facilitate through running of services to and from Mallow, Midleton and Cobh.

This will allow for increased frequency and capacity on these routes.

Eight new commuter rail stations to be built in Cork

Iarnród Éireann will announce later today the appointment of consultants to oversee the construction of eight new commuter rail stations to the north-west and east of Cork city.

www.rte.ie

 

[duesselmartin]

Ireland has the lowest electrification % of their network in the EU. So every extra metre makes a difference.

 

[poffle]

There are Local and European elections in June in Ireland. Oddly several announcements ( preannouncemnts/reannouncements ?) of public transport infrastructure in recent days.

 

[stuu]

That's an ambitious scheme, I assume they are planning a lot of development, as from aerial maps there is quite a lot of nothing around some of the station locations. They could really do with building light rail or something though, as the railways are pretty peripheral to most of the city

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

25kV AC? Off topic, it seems retrograde that Drogheda is to be 1500V DC - although it would require dual voltage stock - if Belfast is the ultimate aim.

 

[poffle]

25kV AC? Off topic, it seems retrograde that Drogheda is to be 1500V DC - although it would require dual voltage stock - if Belfast is the ultimate aim.

I expect this will be 1500v so it can use the same Dart plus rolling stock as in the Dublin area.

There are aspirations for 25kv for Dublin Cork and north of Drogheda but I think that's post 2030. The main focus is on electrification of commuter routes and the new Alstom tri-modes.

 

[Snow1964]

Map of the proposed 8 stations and peak hour frequencies

https://www.irishrail.ie/getmedia/a8af045d-3d23-4f99-8cac-426a9269f6b0/Planned-CACR-Network-Map.pdf

 

[DanNCL]

One wonders if, assuming Cork electrification is DC wires, if the Tokyu Car EMUs could find themselves cascaded to Cork with a uniform fleet of Alstom units running the Dublin network.

A 10 minute frequency to places like Cobh will be transformational. Something that any comparable line the other side of the Irish Sea could only dream of.

Three of the new stations are reopenings - Tivoli, Dunkettle and Blarney.

 

[Gloster]

I would have thought that only going as far as Blarney would be quite enough. A turnback siding and a Park & Ride with a slip off the Blarney Bypass should be enough, even if the connections northbound wouldn’t be so good. (All very different from when the only commuter train from Mallow was an A or a 141 and a couple of Cravens.)

 

[D7666]

Ireland has the lowest electrification % of their network in the EU.

< ahem >

Malta has less.

 

[Gloster]

< ahem >

Malta has less.

I think that you have done the same as me, which lead to me altering #3 to what it is now.

 

[stuu]

Going to be battery powered, with charging at each end of the route, according to the Irish Examiner:

• The electrification of the network following confirmation that static charging of a battery electric fleet at the termini and depot has been identified as the preferred option.

Landmark €50m contract for design of eight Cork commuter rail stations

It includes the design of eight commuter rail stations and a new depot to store a new 150-strong fleet for Cork's €1.6bn high-frequency commuter rail project

www.irishexaminer.com

 

[AndrewE]

Ireland has the lowest electrification % of their network in the EU. So every extra metre makes a difference.

I think that you have done the same as me, which lead to me altering #3 to what it is now.

Malta has 0 out of zero miles of rail, (so 100%? or invalid answer/div zero?) whereas Montenegro has rail but apparently nothing electrified: https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/

 

[Gloster]

Malta has 0 out of zero miles of rail, (so 100%? or invalid answer/div zero?) whereas Montenegro has rail but apparently nothing electrified: https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/

But, in regard to the original post (#2), Montenegro is not in the EU.

 

[D7666]

I think that you have done the same as me, which lead to me altering #3 to what it is now.

Malta has 0 out of zero miles of rail, (so 100%? or invalid answer/div zero?) whereas Montenegro has rail but apparently nothing electrified: https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/

 

[Watershed]

Malta has 0 out of zero miles of rail, (so 100%? or invalid answer/div zero?) whereas Montenegro has rail but apparently nothing electrified: https://www.statista.com/statistics/451522/share-of-the-rail-network-which-is-electrified-in-europe/

No idea where they are getting their data from, but it's complete bunkum in the case of Montenegro. The entire rail network there is electrified - and has been for decades - with the exception of the virtually mothballed freight-only line to Albania.

 

[AndrewE]

Oh well, that's the internet for you! Caveat emptor...

 

[Snow1964]

Oh well, that's the internet for you! Caveat emptor...

I think you mean Caveat Lector

(emptor is buyer, lector is reader)

 

[AndrewE]

I think you mean Caveat Lector (emptor is buyer, lector is reader)

It is, but in reality nothing is free, even if we don't recognise that we are paying for it somehow.

 

[dubscottie]

25kV AC? Off topic, it seems retrograde that Drogheda is to be 1500V DC - although it would require dual voltage stock - if Belfast is the ultimate aim.

25kv is likely in Cork as is any future electrification in the Isle of Ireland.
The DART will remain 1500v DC for decades yet. Interestingly 25kv was considered but rejected for the original DART on cost/weight grounds.

One wonders if, assuming Cork electrification is DC wires, if the Tokyu Car EMUs could find themselves cascaded to Cork with a uniform fleet of Alstom units running the Dublin network.

A 10 minute frequency to places like Cobh will be transformational. Something that any comparable line the other side of the Irish Sea could only dream of.

Three of the new stations are reopenings - Tivoli, Dunkettle and Blarney.

Buy the time this is wired, the Tokyu units will be life expired.
The problem with railway planning in Ireland is the NTA/TFI. Its all political and run by people that probably have never set foot on a train in Ireland.
In my opinion, Irishrail should be given back control of procurement and planning.

 

[edwin_m]

Going to be battery powered, with charging at each end of the route, according to the Irish Examiner:

Landmark €50m contract for design of eight Cork commuter rail stations

It includes the design of eight commuter rail stations and a new depot to store a new 150-strong fleet for Cork's €1.6bn high-frequency commuter rail project

www.irishexaminer.com

I believe this is correct. June's Modern Railways notes that IE has said the battery version of the new DART EMUs would be ideal for Cork area, where there are proposed to be five charging stations but no catenary.

 

[FormerBritInMe]

Malta has 0 out of zero miles of rail, (so 100%? or invalid answer/div zero?)

The same would apply for Iceland (which admittedly is also not in the EU)

The DART will remain 1500v DC for decades yet. Interestingly 25kv was considered but rejected for the original DART on cost/weight grounds.

Seems surprising given that DC would require more substations and more complex ones than an AC electrification at normal 50 Hz line frequency.

 

[edwin_m]

The same would apply for Iceland (which admittedly is also not in the EU)

Seems surprising given that DC would require more substations and more complex ones than an AC electrification at normal 50 Hz line frequency.

At least as originally conceived, it was quite a short distance network (Bray to Howth only I think) and the trains were lightweight and articulated, so I guess they thought the weight penalty of a transformer on each train would outweigh more substations and a bit of extra resistance loss. I imagine any electrification beyond the limits of DART+ would be 25kV with dual voltage rolling stock, which doesn't weigh or cost much more than 25kV only.

 

[dubscottie]

At least as originally conceived, it was quite a short distance network (Bray to Howth only I think) and the trains were lightweight and articulated, so I guess they thought the weight penalty of a transformer on each train would outweigh more substations and a bit of extra resistance loss. I imagine any electrification beyond the limits of DART+ would be 25kV with dual voltage rolling stock, which doesn't weigh or cost much more than 25kV only.

Exactly the reason. AC traction motors didn't exist at the time. Clearances were an issue also.

 

[TheGrew]

Has 3Kv been considered for Dart as it has in NL? I would have thought that would make more sense for new DC electrification even if Cork is going to be battery powered.

 

[Taunton]

Seems surprising given that DC would require more substations and more complex ones than an AC electrification at normal 50 Hz line frequency.

25kV actually requires far more substations than DC. It's just that the substations are now under all the train floors instead of nicely accessible lineside.

Infrastructure engineers sticking their costs on the rolling stock side ...

 

[edwin_m]

25kV actually requires far more substations than DC. It's just that the substations are under the train floors instead of nicely accessible lineside.

Infrastructure engineers sticking their costs on the rolling stock side ...

25kV becomes more suitable for longer distance and more rural railways for several reasons:

• Feeds much further apart, so no need to locate them in rural areas where power supply may be difficult
• Less resistance loss over longer distances
• Power regenerated by braking can be used by trains motoring further away
• Likely to be fewer trains on the route so the economics are more favourable to putting the transformer on the train rather than the trackside

Railways generally have to compromise between the various duties they are fulfilling and the advantage of having a common system across the network. As DART was seen as a short-distance Metro type system, lower voltage DC was seen as ideally suited.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

At least as originally conceived, it was quite a short distance network (Bray to Howth only I think) and the trains were lightweight and articulated

I would imagine that the DART planners took some inspiration from the Tyne and Wear Metro, which was being built at the same time -- with 1500 V DC power and lightweight articulated trains.

 

[Taunton]

I would imagine that the DART planners took some inspiration from the Tyne and Wear Metro, which was being built at the same time -- with 1500 V DC power and lightweight articulated trains.

I think the 1,500V overhead, which was less common by this time, was originally inspired by the Hong Kong MTR, a number of whose senior staff in its development also were involved with Tyne & Wear. Possibly some of these also were involved at DART, whose distances are similar to those of Newcastle.

 

[OVS Flatbottom]

I would imagine that the DART planners took some inspiration from the Tyne and Wear Metro, which was being built at the same time -- with 1500 V DC power and lightweight articulated trains.

I believe the original assumption concerning rolling stock (in the Dublin Rail Rapid Transit Study of 1975) was essentially T&W Metrocars, although third rail was assumed at that time (the thinking, as far as I can recall, being that DC was superior for an urban system but OHL would potentially conflict with any future AC main line electrification).