Moving Cork? Why light rail is a bad idea!

Public Transport in Cork – A contentious topic to say the least, and certainly one that I apparently can’t escape as a blogger. A few months ago, the rather ambitious Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy was released in draft form. I never got around to writing a post about that as I had some rather more pressing issues to deal with, namely a new job that wasn‘t running smoothly at the time. Still, it was almost impossible to escape the talk about one of the core components of this draft strategy: A light rail line running from Ovens in the west of the city to Mahon in the east. It was an audacious move, and I‘m convinced that it will never see the light of day. I‘ll admit, I was absolutely thrilled by the idea at first, but after spending some time thinking about it, it became clear to me that not only would this project never see the light of day, it would be a spectacularly bad fit for Cork. Now, don‘t get me wrong, I‘m a fan of any type of rail transport, and would absolutely flip, but I‘m also enough of a realist to see the obstables, which are legion.

First of all, a light rail system is eyewateringly expensive. The CMATS draft itself expects the cost of a light rail system to reach €1 billion, and given the way that public infrastructure projects have spiralled in cost in recent years, the final price will likely be closer to €1.2 billion if we‘re lucky. Given how the people of this city recently balked at the thought of a directly elected mayor who would cost cork around €130k just to stick it to the man, it seems highly likely that everyone and their dead grandma would petition/badger/blackmail their city councillor to block such a project, even if budget were to be found.

While certainly an attractive idea, a light rail system for Cork, as envisioned by CMATS is ultimately unrealistic.

Then, there‘s the issue of construction. The CMATS envisions a light rail line running along Washington Street and Patrick Street, continuing on to Kent Station via MacCurtain Street before finally crossing the river again and heading out to Mahon. This was widely applauded when it was announced, but I doubt even ten percent of the local population realised what it would entail. Installing the tracks, points, signaling equipment, catenaries and power supply infrastructure would mean that streets would have to be ripped open for weeks, if not months. Given the inevitable amount of construction noise and noise, not to mention the weekslong road closures this entails, Cork would find itself in a full-blown revolt if the hostile reaction to the flood defence scheme and the Patrick Street bus lane are anything to go by.

Any significant construction in the city centre would be met with considerable hostility, particularly if it in any way impedes the almighty car.

Finally, there‘s the operational issues. Granted, a light rail system is a high capacity transport solution, but that doesn‘t mean it‘s without its drawbacks. First of all, the electrical supply is a major vulnerability. Catenary wires can easily be taken out by falling trees or branches, and given Cork‘s rather exposed location on Ireland‘s south coast, the odds of this happening at least once every autumn, winter, or spring are pretty much 100%. In-Road power supply, such as the one utilised by the Dubai Marina light rail system isn‘t much better, given the amount of torrential rainfall we tend to get here. The biggest issue however is the track itself. You only need one thickheaded motorist, a species which is legion in Cork, to park his car in the wrong place to block the tram line in the city centre. Any traffic jam anywhere along the city centre route would equally affect the trams, since there‘s not enough road space for a dedicated right-of-way. The only way to avoid this would be to tunnel under the city centre from the Lee Fields to the Marina, which would not only be prohibitively expensive, but also an engineering nightmare given that most of the city centre is built on a swamp, with no solid bedrock until quite a ways down. Feel free to ask decision makers in Hamburg how well that combination worked for them during the extension of the U4 into the local docklands. So apart from “keeping up with the Dubliners”, a light rail system in all likelihood would not be much of an asset for public transport in Cork, CMATS or not.

While there may be increasing numbers of new buses hitting the streets, such as this Mercedes Citaro, Bus Éireann is simply not good enough for the needs of a modern city.

So, will Cork be forever doomed to be victims of Bus Éireann and the mobsters of the NBRU that are holding it hostage? Not necessarily. There’s a system that offers most of the advantages of a light rail system while still providing the flexibility required to deal with the dismal driving skills demonstrated by most Leesiders on a daily basis. I’m talking about Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT of course. While it may not be as flashy as Luas, it is a much more pragmatic solution for the city. While still relying on buses, as the name suggests, BRT systems often make use of not just dedicated bus lanes, but grade separated busways, similar to a light rail line. In densely built up areas, such as city centres, these lines feed into the regular roads, continuing as a normal bus would. I experienced such a system first-hand not too long ago, when heading back to Cork from Wales. Metrobus Bristol is such a BRT system, and I was impressed with the standard of infrastructure put in place for it. While the system does utilise normal roads in the city centre, it relies heavily on bus lanes, dedicated motorway exits and bridges further out. The most impressive part however is the two kilometre link between Cumberland Basin, part of Bristol’s Floating Harbour, and the Park & Ride facility at Long Ashton. This is built as a guided busway, where buses are kept on course by guide rails at either side of the lane itself. This section bypasses a chronically congested motorway at the southern edge of the city, and is utilised by both the m2 metrobus line and the Bristol Airport Flyer, the local airport shuttle. Apart from dedicated roadways, BRT systems forego onboard ticket sales in favour of ticket machines at the respective stops, which also feature schedules, passenger information displays, as well as an emergency help point in many cases. A common feature for many of these systems is also a distinct branding.

No messing around with Bus Éireann, GoBus, etc. - BRT systems all have a common branding

The advantages for Cork are obvious. There is next to no construction required in the city centre apart from the dedicated stops and ticket machines. In theory, even the purchase of new vehicles wouldn’t be necessary as the necessary guide wheels can easily be mounted onto existing buses. I would however recommend the use of articulated buses over the existing double-deckers, not only for visual distinction, but also due to a higher frequency of passenger exchange given the multiple sets of doors these vehicles sport.

The biggest advantage however comes outside the city centre. When utilising guided busways, a BRT system can offer passengers an almost light rail like experience, while the guided busways themselves can be far narrower than a traditional lane of traffic. This enables BRT lines to utilise old railway lines that would otherwise have been too narrow for anything other than a light rail track. It also enables the provision of trackside walking and cycling paths as part of any such project, further encouraging the modal shift in transport that is so desperately needed. At the same time however, this system isn’t bound to the dedicated infrastructure it uses, and in case of an accident on the line, blockage due to fallen trees, any BRT vehicles can easily be routed via the nearest public road, which would probably cause delays, but would keep the line itself open. 

Then, there’s the issue of expandability. Any light rail system requires significant investment before it can even begin operation. Tracks need to be laid, power supply & signalling equipment needs to be installed & tested,  in fact an entire power grid needs to be set up to supply electricity at the voltages that a light rail vehicle can handle. Oh, and don’t forget the depot, as well as the delivery of the vehicles themselves. All of this needs to be completed before even test rides can begin. All of this, with the exception perhaps of the depot, needs to be repeated for every light rail line you add to the system, making expansion eye-wateringly expensive. With BRT, the initial investment for any expansion is limited to the construction of dedicated BRT stops along existing roads, and the upgrading & securing of existing bus lanes. That way, a “precursor” service can be up and running on regular roads within months, before switching to a dedicated roadway/guided busway once it’s completed. In addition, buses aren’t subject to the same type of gradient limitation that light rail vehicles are. For Cork, that means that a BRT service to the airport would be feasible, while a light rail line would require massive investment. The option of converting any existing BRT network to a light rail network is of course retained. Guided busways are already dedicated trackage, and while converting it to light rail will still entail a massive construction effort, a track bed capable of sustaining light rail vehicles is already in place, which should shorten construction quite considerably.

Typical BRT stop on the Metrobus system in Bristol. The branding mentioned earlier is clearly visible here.
By Geof Sheppard - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=80831877

Finally, let’s talk about money. Any investment in public transport is a sensitive one in Ireland, where most people require a daily injection of gasoline to even be able to function. There’s also the matter of the housing crisis, a deteriorating internal security situation, an out of control health service, and that little annoying matter of Brexit. Against this backdrop, the projected cost of €1 billion for a light rail system in Cork, one consisting of a single line no less, makes it highly unlikely to proceed even by the supposed in-service date of 2037-2040. By comparison, the entire metrobus system in Bristol, including all related construction work, came in at £230 million. Now I don’t know about you, but me, those numbers speak for themselves. Even going for the “deluxe” option that I’m going to outline in the last few paragraphs of this article, the total cost of implementing a BRT system in Cork would likely stay below €400 million. Given that, you’d in all likelihood be able to implement a decent BRT network as well as all other components of the CMATS and still not exceed the €1billion price tag for the single light rail line envisioned by the draft strategy.

Relax, you’ve almost made it to the end. The final thing I want to do in this post is to take a gander into the future, to see how such a BRT system in Cork would look. While I will be drawing on information from the CMATS, this is my own idea, and I’ll explain my reasoning as I go.

The core component is actually surprisingly similar to the CMATS. It consists of a high capacity BRT line from Ovens to Mahon, following the route of the light rail line laid out in the draft document. This simply makes sense, as there’s a lot of passenger potential along that line. Taking a page from metrobus over in Bristol, this line, let’s call it X1 for the purposes of this article, will run on a dedicated guided busway until merging with the Wilton road next to Cork University Hospital. The section from the docklands through the marina and Blackrock to Mahon would also be a guided busway. Services would run at 5 minute intervals, as outlined in the CMATS for the light rail line.

While Cork Airport may be a great airport, its public transport connections are atrocious.

The added flexibility of a BRT system enables expansion beyond the constraints of both the draft strategy and light rail. One of the current weaknesses of public transport in Cork is dismal north-south connectivity. A second BRT line, X2, would address that, running from Blackpool to Cork Airport via the South Link and Black Ash Park & Ride. This line requires significantly less construction than X1, although ideally, it would still run on a separate guided busway from Black Ash to the Airport, simply to avoid the notoriously congested Kinsale Road Roundabout and N27 up Airport Hill. This line should ideally run at 15 minute intervals, preferably 24 hours a day. At a later stage, this line could be expanded to Carrigaline using a dedicated guided busway to avoid the congested roads there, and to Blarney along the N20/M20.

Finally, we need to address a pretty sizeable elephant in the room. In fact, it’s pretty much a mammoth. That’s the fact that almost all transport lines currently run though the city centre. There are no actual ring or orbital lines to speak of. This effectively creates one massive pinch point for all bus lines. One accident on South Mall, Grand Parade, Patrick Street or the quays, and the resulting tailback will likely shut down the city centre for a considerable time. With a Northern Ring road that actually deserves the name still several decades away, the best option to create a decent east west line is simply to use the South Ring, the N40/M40. Utilising a guided busway along the median, with island platforms and wheelchair friendly ramps and bridges to access them, should allow any such peripheral BRT line, X3, top run from Ovens via Ballincollig, the Ring, Black Ash P&R and the tunnel to Little Island, making public transport a viable option for hundreds, if not thousands of commuters who currently have to take the car. Granted, such a line would leave the tunnel and Dunkettle as major chokepoints, but it would still be a major improvement over the current situation.

This basic network would also enable other peripheral connections that simply don’t exist at the moment, such as services from Ovens or Little Island to the airport. As is the norm for BRT systems, all stops should of course be built to the same standards, fully accessible, with ticket machines, help points, electronic passenger information displays, ample lighting and multiple CCTV cameras, all with a single consistent branding that stretches across all aspects of the system. This latter aspect is especially crucial for tourists or newcomers to the city who often don’t know their way around. 

Now I could go even further into details about my vision for such a network, from battery electric buses to complete remote operation in the guided busway sections, but this article has already rumbled on for long enough. What’s crucial is that a driving force emerges in Cork that is willing to take on that unholy alliance of incompetent city council staff, union & business owner extortion rackets and plain old NIMBYs, that is not above fighting dirty to neutralise these elements for good. More of the same will only lead to the slow but sure death of Cork. It’s time for an actual revolution in the city.