O’Connor Sutton Cronin acted as Lead Consultant for the reinstatement of the 42km Limerick to Foynes railway corridor, restoring freight connectivity between Limerick and Shannon Foynes Port. The project represented Ireland’s largest rail reinstatement scheme in more than a century.

The commission encompassed detailed design, tender documentation and Employer’s Representative services throughout construction. A dedicated site-supervision team of five Resident Engineers managed day-to-day oversight, ensuring that works met the required contract, safety and quality standards.

The project delivered extensive permanent way works, including new track, ballast replacement, rail stressing and alignment reinstatement, together with upgrades to level crossings, signalling and telecommunications systems. Major civil engineering works included earthworks, drainage improvements, bridge and culvert refurbishment, structural remediation, boundary treatments and the clearance of redundant rail infrastructure.

Design services covered track geometry, future-proofing for potential dual tracking, signalling and telecommunications ducting, flood-resilient earthworks and structures, automated level crossings, and station and platform improvements, including a new platform at Adare. Key structures included the Robertstown underbridge and the raising of Maigue Bridge.

The appointment also included stakeholder coordination, management of topographical, geotechnical and environmental investigations, road and rail interface design, and PSDP services. This complex, multidisciplinary commission demonstrated OCSC’s capability in delivering large-scale rail infrastructure from detailed design through to on-site delivery and quality assurance.