Rail services in Cork disrupted by flooding on lines

Iarnród Éireann commuter services from Cork to Cobh and Midleton in east Cork were disrupted for a period on Tuesday morning when a burst water main at Dunkettle near Glanmire flooded the railway line.

According to Iarnród Éireann, the burst water main led to flooding on the track near Dunkettle and commuter train services from Kent Station in Cork were affected from 10.30am until 11.15am.

Services to Midleton were suspended and rail passengers were carried by bus to Midleton while services to Cobh, which is a double track line, continued to operate on a single track.

The burst water main also caused problems in the North Esk industrial estate and units of both Cork City and Cork County Fire Brigades provided sandbags to prevent several businesses from flooding.

Fire crews are continuing to pump water from the cartilage of several industrial units that were flooded to a depth of a foot of more by the burst water main which services nearby Little Island.

Fire brigade

Bergin O’Brien of ESI Technologies told 96FM that if it was not for the efforts of the fire brigade in providing sandbags, their premises would have been seriously flooded.

“We saw the drains starting to rise and when we investigated, we discovered that one of the main feeds to Little Island had ruptured and water was coming over the railway tracks into North Esk.

“By the time, we had investigated it, the water had risen by maybe a foot – the fire brigade came down with sandbags and they sandbagged our reception area and our stores area.

“If it wasn’t for the fire brigade we would have been in serious trouble – they did a tremendous job.”