Iarnród Éireann, the state-owned Irish rail operator, has awarded Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group Ireland, the Irish arm of Austrian rail engineering group Rhomberg Sersa, a contract worth more than €140 million to operate and maintain its fleet of rail-bound on-track machines.

The eight-year award, with an option for a further two, returns the work to the incumbent after a tender opened to international competition.

Iarnród Éireann is a subsidiary of state-owned CIÉ, headquartered at Connolly Station in Dublin, and carried a record peak of 55 million passengers in 2025. Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group is a private rail engineering provider headquartered in Bregenz, Austria, with operations in Austria and Switzerland, and its Irish business has run the Irish Rail machine fleet since 2019.

The tender was launched in February 2025. Rhomberg Sersa’s first Irish contract covered five years with a two-year extension option, and that extension was exercised, keeping the company on the network until 2026.

The structural driver is Iarnród Éireann’s outsourcing of specialist on-track machine operation and maintenance to a private operator, while the state-owned railway keeps ownership of the machines.

The fleet has grown from 14 to 19 machines since 2019 and is used for tamping, ballast cleaning, ballast regulating and other track maintenance across the Irish network. Around 70 Rhomberg Sersa employees work on the contract, including machine operators, fitters and support staff.

Much of the work is carried out at night and during weekends to reduce the impact on passenger services. The new arrangement also covers maintenance and technical support for the fleet.

During the previous contract period, around 400,000 tonnes of ballast were reused in maintenance operations, and the fleet was converted to run entirely on HVO fuel.

For the sector, the award shows an incumbent retaining a long-term maintenance contract on state-owned rail infrastructure after a tender opened to international competition.

Source: Railmarket / Wikipedia / Rhomberg Sersa