Irish Rail warned over safety after €20m Limerick station redevelopment

LIMERICK City and County Council has issued a warning letter to Irish Rail in relation to safety issues at the city’s Colbert Station following its €20m revamp.

One councillor has described the situation as “chaos”, while fears have been expressed that children could be knocked down, with a local school principal saying “it’s quite scary really”.

Work got underway on giving the city and county’s main transport hub a facelift back in May 2022, with the new improvements unveiled earlier this year.

Now, Irish Rail, which led the project, has been ordered to improve the pedestrian facilities outside the station which serves as an entry point to the city for bus passengers coming from rural Limerick and those travelling by rail to and from Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland.

As part of the redevelopment, buses have moved to the left-hand side of the complex (when facing the station), while a car park has opened on the opposite side.

A revamped railway station is in the centre.

“I anticipate a real danger to children,” said Tracie Tobin, the principal of St Michael’s Infant School at nearby Sexton Street.

Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely, who received confirmation of the warning letter at this month’s metropolitan meeting, said: “There seems to be chaos for pedestrians and drivers. There is very little structure around the station. Children going to school need to have priority, and they do not. Children coming from Hyde Road, Carey’s Road and its surrounding areas, over by the park are all converging outside the train station.”

Ms Tobin, who joined Cllr Kiely on site during a morning rush hour last week, said one of her staff members was almost hit by a bus when walking across the road leading out from the new bus station.

She also pointed out there are almost 2,000 children heading to schools across the various national and secondary schools in the Sexton Street area.

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“There are no warnings of a potential bus coming out or a car turning in. It’s quite scary really. Parents are with their children, and if a child is using their scooter, they may not be holding their hand. Children get easily distracted - it’s a busy area. They need to be warned of potential danger and in my opinion there is no warning.”

For its part, Irish Rail confirmed the firm had received a warning letter, and said there is “ongoing engagement” to resolve this.

They said there were "minor amendments" to the design of the car park/set down area on the Parnell Street side of the station.

"These amendments were requested by and agreed with Limerick City and County Council’s roads department. Subsequent to this Limerick City and County Council’s Planning Department issued a warning letter expressing the view that these amendments were potentially not in compliance with our planning permission. We are having ongoing engagement with the planning department to resolve this issue," a spokesperson said.

One motorist, who uses the new car park several times a week, pointed out how drivers trying to drive across into the car park from Lord Edward Street and Mallow Street can be forced to queue back on the main road if someone is crossing the pedestrian crossing ahead of them and there is another vehicle ahead of their vehicle, causing Parnell Street traffic to be affected outbound from the city.

Cllr Kiely added: “I was contacted by an elderly man, who lives in Hyde Road, recently and he said he finds it treacherous to cross the road there.

“You are walking out into a blind alley.

“Even though there is a stop sign there, cars do not stop.”

Senior planner Nuala O’Connell confirmed the warning letter in a written answer to Cllr Kiely.

A council spokesperson did not provide further comment.