Water Rock Level Crossing Closure Extended Until December

A level crossing in East Cork will remain closed for an additional two weeks due to unforeseen bedrock works, Iarnród Éireann announced today.

Water Rock level crossing, which was scheduled to reopen on 24 November, will now remain closed until Sunday 7 December 2025. The crossing will reopen to road traffic from Monday 8 December.

The closure is part of the Glounthaune to Midleton Twin Tracking project, which requires the level crossing to be widened and rearranged to accommodate a new second track. The original closure began on 27 October 2025.

Traffic diversions remain in place during the extended closure period. The Iarnród Éireann project team has apologised for the inconvenience caused by the delay.

Despite the setback at Water Rock, the €90 million Glounthaune to Midleton project remains on schedule and on budget for completion in 2027. The project team confirmed that 4km of the new track has already been laid.

The twin-track forms part of Phase 1 of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme, which also includes the new €23 million platform 6 at Kent Station and signalling and communications upgrades across the Cork area. These improvements will enable significantly increased train service frequency on Cork's three commuter lines to Cobh, Midleton and Mallow.

Phase 2 of the programme will deliver new stations, a depot, network electrification and a new fleet, ultimately supporting a 10-minute service frequency on each commuter line. A second public consultation and Railway Order Application to An Coimisiún Pleanála is expected in 2026.

More information on the Cork Area Commuter Rail Programme is available at www.irishrail.ie/cacr.