Proposed light rail developments for Cork City

Since the early 2000s, a number of proposals have been made by politicians and interest groups in Cork City, Ireland to introduce a light rail system in the city. As of early 2019 it was in a period of public consultation. The proposal, which has "no definitive timeline", has been compared to the Luas light rail system in Dublin.

History
From the 1880s to 1934, a light rail system existed in Cork, the Cork and Muskerry Light Railway. It closed in 1934, having sustained damage during the Irish Civil War, which hindered usage. Another tramway operated three lines around the city center and surrounding suburbs, operated by the Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company. It closed in 1931.

A light rail system was proposed as part of the Green Party manifesto in 2007. When the Green Party entered into a coalition with Fianna Fáil, following the 2007 general election, these proposals were briefly discussed in the Dáil. In 2007 it was announced that a bus-based rapid transit system was to be examined in Cork City.

The 2008 update to the Cork Area Strategic Plan included an east-west "rapid-transit corridor" from Ballincollig to Mahon via the Docklands and City Centre, as well as a north-south corridor from Ballyvolane to Cork Airport. The plan suggested that these would be serviced by buses, at least in the initial stages, but acknowledged that light rail or bus rapid transit might be justified depending on development and desired service provision. The CASP was a strategic plan for the Cork City region jointly developed by Cork City and County Council.

This update to the CASP was reflected in the 2009 Cork County Development Plan, where the possibility of the identified rapid transit corridors being developed as light rail or bus rapid transit. The 2015 City Development Plan only proposed developing the east-west corridor as a Bus Rapid Transit route.

A similar proposal was mentioned in the government's Ireland 2040 framework, which was published in 2018. As of 2019, a formal transportation plan for Cork, known as the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (CMATS), was prepared by the local authority. Publication was scheduled for February 2018, with a "draft plan" proposed to be available for "public consultation early in 2019". The draft CMATS plan was published in May 2019, and included draft proposals for the construction of a light-rail system sometime after 2031. The proposed light-rail system received support from the president of University College Cork, the Cork Chamber of Commerce, Tánaiste Simon Coveney, and former Lord Mayor Mary Shields.

In 2020, the Cork Transport and Mobility Forum proposed a combined tram-train system for Cork based on the Karlsruhe model to the Cork City Council.

Proposed routes
Plans proposed in 2017, under the Ireland 2040 development framework, had suggested an 'east-west' light-rail corridor from Ballincollig in the west of Cork City, through the city centre, to Mahon in the east. A 'north-south' corridor was also contained in these plans, linking Cork Airport.

During 2018, the People Before Profit (PBP) political party proposed a variant of these routes. A two-line proposal suggested one line running from Ballincollig to Mahon, and another from Cork Airport to Cork city center. Another PBP proposal, from later in 2018, was based on three lines.

In May 2019, the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy was published by the National Transport Authority (NTA), and contained proposals for a one-line system running from Ballincollig to Mahon, with stops at points in the city centre. The design was unveiled alongside a number of other suggested transport investments, including an expansion of the Cork Suburban Rail network. The 2019 proposal was costed at €1 billion, projected to include 25 possible stops along 17 km of track. Determination of a possible light rail transit (LRT) route was due to start in early 2020, with construction not expected to commence "until 2031 at earliest". These 2019 proposals speculated that the line would make use of the old Cork, Blackrock and Passage Railway line greenway when running through Blackrock.

In July 2020, updated CMATS plans were released. While, in August 2020, it was reported that a preferred route for the proposed LRT system could be "identified within two years", as of October 2023, its publication had been "delayed". In November 2023, it was reported that the proposed route could be "published in the new year [2024]".