British firm on the brink of £100 million wagon contract

Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) is set to award a £100 million contract to Mansfield-based wagon manufacturer WH Davis for the supply of up to 400 vehicles.

The contract, reportedly approved by the IÉ board in January, is intended to replace the company’s ageing fleet with a modern air-braked alternative.

Issued in November 2022, the tender called for a new fleet of “type-approved” wagons through a Framework Agreement covering up to 400 wagons over a ten-year period.

IÉ anticipates that the initial order will consist of approximately 200 wagons, including a sub-fleet of up to 30 ore wagons for Tara mines traffic.

The contract will span 96 months, with the option to extend for a further 24 months at IÉ’s discretion. The tender also requested the design and supply of infrastructure, intermodal, and ore bogie railway wagons suitable for high-speed rail traffic at speeds of up to 100kph-120kph (62mph-74mph).

The contract announcement was revealed in an official communiqué at the Anglo-Irish Summit held in Liverpool on March 5, attended by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

An Irish Government press release stated: “To coincide with the summit, Irish investments worth a total of £185.5m will be announced by a range of firms, with confirmation that WH Davis, part of Buckland Group, has secured a £100m contract with Irish Rail to support their investment in railway infrastructure in Ireland.”

However, RAIL understands that the government communiqué surprised IÉ, as the contracts have yet to be formally signed with WH Davis.

An IÉ spokesperson said: “On wagons, we are in the process of engaging with a preferred supplier on contractual details.”

The order forms a crucial element of IÉ’s Rail Freight 2040 Strategy, launched in 2021.

This strategy aims to achieve a fivefold increase in rail operations, including more than 100 new weekly services across the network, with an emphasis on low-carbon transport modes.

As part of this strategy, the existing fleet, primarily dating from the 1970s, will be replaced. The newest additions to the fleet are 24 container pocket wagons introduced in 2021.

By Hassard Stacpoole.