While the reopening of the Cork-Midleton line is to be welcomed, why not go the extra half mile and run the line into Cork city centre, write Séamus Ó Tuama and Cathal O'Connell.
The recent launch of the Luas light-rail system has once again raised the profile of urban transport systems in the minds of Dublin commuters. Similarly in Cork, the announcement that €90 million is to be invested in reopening the suburban railway network has invoked memories of a time when rail transit was a living part of the city.
Many older citizens will remember the tram system that criss-crossed the city until just before the second World War, and the rail system that served county towns until the late 1940s and 1950s. A more recent generation will recall the freight trains that trundled between Kent Station, Brian Boru Bridge and Eglington Street until the mid-1970s.
Even though rail has been absent from our streets for over three decades, it remains woven into the urban fabric of Cork. But for the failure to pursue some modest, far-seeing suggestions made in the mid-1970s, Cork people could now be riding a light-rail system of their own - right into the city centre. Those suggestions arose out of a planning blueprint known as the Land Usage and Transportation Strategy, popularly termed "LUTS".
LUTS set out a strategy for the development of Cork city and its environs, part of which entailed providing Cork with a light-rail system of its own - years before the Luas and for a fraction of the cost.
The purpose of LUTS was to "develop a strategic plan for the orderly growth and co-ordinated development" of the greater Cork area. It offered a range of recommendations in such areas as population growth and residential patterns, investment in industry and employment, efficient and renewable use of resources and infrastructure.
For many citizens of Cork, however, LUTS is most immediately associated with the transformation of the road infrastructure of the city and its suburbs.
The rush to prioritise road transport to the detriment of a better rail system has many origins. The car became synonymous with individual freedom and increased disposable income - in essence a status symbol. Inefficiencies in the rail network itself also led to its decline.
Inefficiencies arose because of poor timetabling, poor rolling stock, poor time-keeping and also not enough emphasis being placed on routes and the needs of the passengers. It is clear from the public reaction to the closure of rail and tram systems that people believed in the system, but had lost faith in the service. That was in part due to poor planning and a lack of leadership and commitment to providing the sort of service that a modernising society demanded.
Many of the key decisions on public transport were made before the oil crisis of the 1970s. Had Cork adopted a more rational approach to its transport system at that time, it might have fared better in the bleak years of the 1980s. That would have required an emphasis on how light rail could represent an integrating force in transport, rather than a relic of the past; a proper analysis of the externalities of both road and rail transport; and above all a more coherent plan for air, rail, road and sea transport for the region.
LUTS was critical of the chaotic and underdeveloped nature of transport in the city, noting that "for a city of its size traffic conditions were unusually bad, problems in one part of the city spread rapidly to other parts, and frequently traffic came to a complete standstill as a result of an accident, or a combination of bad weather and heavy traffic".
LUTS was highly critical of the limited number of river crossings and the lack of ring roads, which forced traffic, that had no business there, into the city centre causing severe congestion. LUTS reported that a striking 65 per cent of traffic in the inner core of the city was simply passing through.
Arising from its analysis LUTS recommended major investment in a network of ring roads and river crossings to divert road traffic away from the city. The results of this were a series of new bridges, ring roads and of course the most high-profile development of all - the Jack Lynch Tunnel.
But LUTS also recommended equally important, though far less expensive, investment in other transport modes such as bus lanes, cycle ways, pedestrianisation schemes, and suburban rail. However, none of these garnered the political will, energy and financial investment as the car-based options.
One critic of the LUTS implementation suggested that there were in fact two LUTS plans - one agreed with the consultants who drew it up, and another, which was implemented by the local authorities.
LUTS was especially astute in recognising the role of suburban rail as a strategic investment. It suggested that the Midleton-Cork railway be reopened but crucially, in acknowledging the nature of commuting patterns, suggested that it needed to extend right into the city centre.
LUTS commented that "it would be desirable to bring the Cobh and Midleton trains closer to the city centre by using the existing track to Brian Boru Street and establishing a station on Patrick's Quay (near Patrick's Bridge) or adjacent to the Parnell Street bus station. This reflected the widely-held view among urban transport providers that, for commuters, the quality of services and attractiveness over other modes revolve around minutiae such as proximity to other transit modes, city centres, and reliability of timetables."
The LUTS suggestion, though it may be 30 years old, still holds. So while the recently-announced reopening of the Cork-Midleton line is to be welcomed, why not go the extra half mile and run the line into the city centre?
Luas in Dublin has shown that technical obstacles can be easily overcome by thoughtful design and education of road users. The LUTS proposals for Cork would entail much less than Luas by way of imposing on existing road space - for instance the tracks to Patrick's Bridge could run along the quays on a newly-constructed boardwalk from Brian Boru Bridge.
This would have the effect of offering commuters from Cobh, Midleton and the eastern suburbs, and those from Mallow, Blarney, Kilbarry also, an attractive, accessible transit system right into the city centre. It would offer an alternative to the motor car and reignite Cork's long- standing affinity with urban rail.
Now is the time to make those strategic decisions. We can afford it, but if we have another oil crisis it may be beyond our reach, just when we need it most.
Dr Séamus Ó Tuama, and Dr Cathal O'Connell were authors of the EU-funded study of transport in European cities undertaken by the Centre for European Social Research, UCC