{"id":368061,"date":"2026-03-27T13:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/368061\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T13:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T13:07:07","slug":"cie-plans-to-redevelop-heuston-and-connolly-train-stations-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/368061\/","title":{"rendered":"CI\u00c9 plans to redevelop Heuston and Connolly train stations \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

State-owned transport group CI\u00c9<\/a> is looking at redevelopment opportunities at both Heuston and Connolly stations in Dublin that could provide for new interchange arrangements between buses and trains as well as housing.<\/p>\n

The board of CI\u00c9 will also decide in June on the implementation of a landmark deal agreed last summer that would see more than 6,000 retired personnel receive their first pension increases in 18 years. <\/p>\n

In an interview with The Irish Times, CI\u00c9 chief executive Stephen Kent said he has had conversations with the National Transport Authority<\/a> (NTA) about an \u201cintermodal opportunity\u201d at Heuston. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a fantastic historic train station with a Luas outside the door. But it is probably suboptimal in relation to buses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Kent, not all buses passing by the station may have to go all the way down the quays into the city centre. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have turning [facilities] and it could be a great intermodal. I know the NTA would have plans for looking at a potential bus interchange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kent also said the CI\u00c9 group would shortly present \u201cconcepts\u201d to Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien<\/a> about developments around Connolly Station.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe vista, both in the public realm and with the integration of buses with the trains, could be dramatically improved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said some buses already departed from outside the station but in some instances there were no shelters for passengers. <\/p>\n

Kent said CI\u00c9 was working with property developers about proposals, including on housing, and there would also have to be dialogue with Dublin City Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The immediate priority of CI\u00c9 is the planned pension reforms, Kent said.<\/p>\n

He said detailed questions had to be answered on the proposed arrangements to allow the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Public Expenditure to give their consent and for new statutory instruments to be put in place. <\/p>\n

Under the deal agreed last May, existing defined benefit schemes would be closed to new entrants. A new defined contribution scheme would be introduced while retired staff would receive increases of up to 5 per cent. <\/p>\n

Kent maintained that the CI\u00c9 group had arguably the largest pension deficit \u2013 estimated at more than \u20ac360 million in 2024 \u2013 on its books of any company in the country, with liabilities increasing as hundreds of additional personnel were recruited and enrolled in the existing defined benefit arrangements. <\/p>\n

Left unchanged, he said the group could have faced pension liabilities of \u20ac4 billion within 10 years or so.<\/p>\n

However, retired transport workers have expressed deep frustration at the delay in implementing the promised pension increases. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0CI\u00c9 pensioners to march on Taoiseach\u2019s office in protest over pension increaseOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Kent said all parties were working towards a target date of the CI\u00c9 board meeting in June to consider the formal implementation of the pension deal. He said many details on the deal had to be worked out including a procurement exercise for the planned new defined contribution scheme.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged that it would be tight to meet a June deadline given there would have to be a 28-day consultation period if the Minister was minded to publish new statutory instruments.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that can get you to May. So there\u2019s no doubt that June, at this point, is going to be tight. But everybody is wedded to that date. There\u2019s nobody telling me that we\u2019re not aiming for that date, and we\u2019re trying to keep it on track for that date.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State-owned transport group CI\u00c9 is looking at redevelopment opportunities at both Heuston and Connolly stations in Dublin that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":368062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,84468,61,60,16455,1612],"class_list":{"0":"post-368061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-cie","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-irish-rail","13":"tag-pension"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}