Detailed update on North Quays - The Munster Express

Detailed update on North Quays The Munster Express

Sean Dobbs, Senior Engineer with Waterford City and County Council, provided a presentation on the progress of the North Quays development during the Council’s Plenary meeting for June.

“At the moment we are getting ready to complete the current works, so that’s the train station, the sustainable transport bridge, the Ferrybank infrastructure, the South East plaza and elements of the flood defence,” Mr. Dobbs explained.

“We are getting ready to move on to next phase over the next 18months. That will then allow us to open the train station and the sustainable transport bridge to the public.

“The contractors are doing the final commissioning of the opening bascule span at the moment, so the final testing and commissioning are required to be certified before it is handed over to the council.

“That’s important from the Council’s point of view. The Council will be responsible for operating and maintaining this bridge,” he explained.

“That includes all elements of the project going back the last 10 years,” explains Mr. Dobbs.

Waterford Council are projected to contribute €40.2 million of the €232 million the project cost.

A projected €18.7 million of further funding is required to complete the works.

“In terms of the funding shortfall we are in discussions with our funding partners, particularly for the railway infrastructure,” he said.

“We are having positive discussions with them at the moment and we believe we will secure additional funding. I don’t have an amount at the moment, but those discussions are ongoing.”

According to Mr. Dobbs, there were four steps left until the Public Infrastructure can open on the North Quays, which is envisioned for quarter 4 2027.

These steps include: 1. Flood defences must be completed. 2 Irish Rail need to complete works in the new train station. 3 Harcourt development need to begin their section later this year. 4 They need to get regulatory approval for the new train station to open.

Mr. Dobbs debunked the idea that the sustainable transport bridge was missing a section, explaining that the bridge had been built up to the boundary, as agreed. The final section will be completed by Harcourt developments, as originally agreed.

The Transport hub’s southern entrance, which was not included in original North Quays plan but was added as part of the renewed development proposal, will be completed in Q3 of 2027. Likewise, the flood defences running through Plunket station are set to be completed in Q3 of next year.

“We are consulting with Irish rail to come up with a plan and minimise disruption, minimise costs and ensure safety, in terms of that interface between commuters and the works.”

The flood defences will also include pumping stations to pump flood water directly back into the Suir if land flooding occurs, which can sometimes happen in the area of Plunket Station.

“We then have to get our final regulatory approval in order to open the new train station, and the new tracks, and the new signalling equipment for public use,” Mr. Dobbs continued.

“At this point the train station can open to the public. We are on schedule to complete that in quarter 3 of next year.”

The commencement of works by Harcourt, will be another major step in the project as they are tasked with delivering the houses and offices at the heart of the project.

“We expect Harcourt developments to start work on site in quarter 4 of this year,” Mr. Dobbs continued.

In July 2025 the government published new guidelines changing apartment standards to allow for more apartments to be delivered in less space. Significantly for the North Quays, these new standards are understood to apply to developments which had already been awarded planning permission.

Earlier this year a new planning application sought permission to build 228 one-bed apartments and 202 two-bed apartments. If approved this would mean Harcourt will have increased the quantity and proportion of one bed apartments in the development.

The original planning permission allowed for 106 one-bed, 207 two-bed, and 37 three-bed apartments.

“Harcourt start works at the end of this year. It will then take 12 months to complete the integration works that are required to open the train station and the sustainable transport bridge,” Mr. Dobbs added.

It was estimated the that additional work on the residential apartments, the hotel, the office blocks will likely continue to around 2030.

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