Planning permission has been granted to Iarnród Éireann to build a new railway station with park and ride facilities at Blackpool on the northside of Cork city.

Cork City Council has granted permission for the station on the site of a railway maintenance yard at Dublin Hill Road Middle at Kilbarry. The proposed development is located on lands adjoining the existing Mallow to Cork railway line and close to the Blackpool shopping centre.

The Blackpool Train Station will comprise 120-metre platforms on either side of the Cork-Mallow line and will include shelters, seating and ticket vending machines. The platforms will be connected via lifts and stairs to a covered pedestrian overbridge.

A park and ride facility at the station will provide 83 vehicle parking spaces and 44 bike parking spaces. The development will also include road upgrades and pedestrian infrastructure along Dublin Hill Road Middle and Redforge Road. The existing maintenance compound will be relocated to the rear of the site.

In the application documentation Iarnród Éireann said the Blackpool station will address a long-standing need for rail-based transport in the area and will provide access to the existing commuter rail service.

Currently, there are no operational stations between Mallow and Cork city’s Kent station.

“The proposed station addresses a documented infrastructure deficit, fulfilling a long-standing requirement for a rail service in Blackpool and the wider Kilbarry area ensuring that the Blackpool and Kilbarry area can fulfil its role as a strategic expansion area of the city and a multi-modal ‘northern gateway’ into Cork city,” the company said.

Blackpool is designated as a ‘Proposed New Employment Zone’ and a strategic City Expansion Area in the Cork City Development Plan for 2022-2028.

Demand at the new station is projected to increase from approximately 400 daily passengers in the early years of operation to around 1,000 beyond 2040.

“This demand would increase further if CACR is introduced, up to 2,100 by 2045,” according to Iarnród Éireann.

CACR is the Cork Area Commuter Rail programme, a €1-billion investment in the county’s rail programme that will see trains running every 10 minutes on routes connecting Kent Station with Cobh, Midleton, and Mallow. Eight new stations are planned, including the one at Blackpool, as well as eventual electrification of the fleet.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.