Life will get a little easier for commuters this summer.

Irish Rail has announced a new 15-minute rail service from Glounthaune and Little Island will launch in July, a move that has been welcomed by Cork Chamber.

“This move to more frequent services is crucial to getting Cork commuters out of their cars and on to public transport, with trains running every 15 minutes from July at the peak morning commuting period,” said Cork Chamber CEO, Conor Healy.

“We look forward to seeing the same level of service rolled out across the whole Cork suburban rail commuter network in the short term and the move to a more frequent 30-minute service from Cobh and Midleton is also really welcome,”

Mr Healy said the Chamber is determined that the new planned commuter rail stations along the lines to the north and east of the city, towards Blarney and Midleton are completed in a short time frame, and that funding is made available by central government so that these lines can then be electrified to provide more frequent high-speed rail services for the whole metropolitan area.

“There is no reason not to move quickly on the construction of the eight new stations given planning issues are unlikely to delay developments,” added Mr Healy.

” The recent progress made by the NTA, Irish Rail, and the government on the first steps to building a comprehensive Cork metropolitan public transport network is very welcome and much needed.”

“Central government needs to green light funding for the order of electric trains as soon as possible for Cork so that we can offer people a fast reliable and frequent service in and out of the city.”