{"id":405299,"date":"2026-04-18T15:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/405299\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T15:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T15:16:08","slug":"cork-light-rail-timeline-revealed-as-luas-project-cost-more-than-doubles-to-e2-5bn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/405299\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork light rail timeline revealed as Luas project cost more than doubles to \u20ac2.5bn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cork could have its Luas<\/a> within a decade, but the cost will now be closer to \u20ac2.5bn \u2014 more than double the project\u2019s initial estimates.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the launch of the preferred route for the Cork light rail system, Paolo Carbone, the head of light rail projects at Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), said the first trams could run by 2036 \u201csubject to funding and permission\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Carbone said he was hoping ground would be broken on Luas Cork before the 100th anniversary of the last trams running in Cork on September 30, 1931.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic consultation on the preferred route will run until June 12,\u201d Mr Carbone told the launch event.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter that, we will consider the feedback and refine the revised route.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is envisaged that we will submit a railway order, which is our planning, in early 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TIITII head of light rail projects Paolo Carbone said it was hoped ground would be broken on the Cork Luas before the hundredth anniversary of the last trams to run in the city, which were taken out of service in 1931. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive<\/p>\n

Allowing a year for An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la to grant planning permission, Mr Carbone said the project would then go to tender.<\/p>\n

Construction should begin by 2031, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, a project of this scale takes five years to build,\u201d Mr Carbone said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I hope to welcome you all in 2036 on the first tram.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OnOn Friday, TII unveiled the preferred route for Cork City’s Luas light rail system, with up to 27 stops between Ballincollig and Mahon Point. Picture: TII\/PA<\/p>\n

When the emerging preferred route for Luas Cork was published last year, unofficial estimates put its likely cost at \u201c\u20ac1bn-plus\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, construction inflation has since affected those figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, we are budgeting in the region of \u20ac90m-\u20ac120m per kilometre for light rail,\u201d Mr Carbone said.<\/p>\n

With the preferred route now running at just over 20km, that would mean Luas Cork might currently cost between \u20ac1.8bn and \u20ac2.5bn.<\/p>\n

It is the first time anything approaching a definitive timeline has been offered for what Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has predicted will be a \u201ctransformational project\u201d for Cork.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AA scheme showing the preferred route of Luas Cork. See below for links to the public consultation which runs until June 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, one observer at the preferred route launch at 1 Lapps Quay on Friday suggested that the phrase \u201csubject to funding and permission\u201d was doing a lot of heavy lifting at a time of growing economic uncertainty in the region.<\/p>\n

Separately, TII chief executive Lorcan O\u2019Connor said Luas Cork will not be a 24-hour service, but rather will probably run from 6am to 1am each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unlikely to be a 24-hour service, as you need to be able to service the track, and that would be common to all rail services around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

With the latest round of non-statutory public consultation running until Friday, June 12, Mr Carbone said he had one ask of the people of Cork: \u201cEngage, engage, engage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cork could have its Luas within a decade, but the cost will now be closer to \u20ac2.5bn \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[175377,79,61,60,43,2738],"class_list":["post-405299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-cork-luas","tag-cork-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405299","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=405299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}