Kent Train station carpark filled with cars of nearby city workers leaving no spaces for actual train users

At the April meeting of Cork City Council, councillors debated the pressure for parking that exists at the station and agreed to write to Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, on the matter. Following this, Green Party councillor, Oliver Moran, asked Irish Rail what options they are examining on the matter at a meeting of Cork City Council Transport committee on Monday.

The company confirmed that one of the options they are examining is to ultimately build multistorey parking for transport users at Kent Station. However, in the meantime, they are considering other options such as limiting parking for motorists who are not rail travellers.

Speaking after the meeting, Green Party councillor for Cork City North East, Oliver Moran, said:

“The number of rail users between Cork and Dublin for business is rising, which is good, but while the rail service is improving a bottleneck is the capacity for parking by rail users, who find themselves competing for parking spaces at the station with the general public.

“It’s not helped by some local businesses actively recommending Kent Station as a day-rate car park for their customers. One commuter who contacted me did some investigation and found nearby businesses advising their customers to park there.

“There are over 800 off-street car parking places in the MacCurtain Street area, including day-long rates. Irish Rail need to prioritise their customers first. Putting in restrictions for non-rail passengers makes sense and could be done quickly to avoid the pressure that’s there.”

The committee also heard of plans by Irish Rail for secure bicycle storage at the station and to develop Park and Ride facilities at Dunkettle/North Esk and Blarney as part of the upgrades of the Cork commuter rail network that’s underway.