IRELAND: National railway Iarnród Éireann has awarded UK manufacturer WH Davis a €23m order to supply 68 infrastructure maintenance wagons for transporting rails, sleepers and track panels across the 1 600 mm gauge network.
The wagons have an estimated design weight of 18-20 tonnes and a payload in the region of 60 tonnes, an increase of 33% on the current LX and LP wagons which were built at Dublin’s Inchicore Works more than 50 years ago and are reaching the end of their lives.
‘This order for maintenance wagons will future proof our maintenance programme for generations to come and will ensure efficiency and reliability for my teams who work right across our network to ensure that our infrastructure is safe and well maintained’, said Iarnród Eireann’s Director of Infrastructure Éamonn Balance.
The latest order announced on January 22 has been placed under a 10-year framework agreement covering up to 400 wagons which was signed in April 2025.
There was an initial €44m order for 150 intermodal flat wagons to transport 20 ft to 45 ft containers. The prototypes are currently being produced at WH Davis’ factory at Shirebrook in Nottinghamshire, and following testing and commissioning are expected to enter service from late summer 2027.
