Irish Rail has awarded Swiss-Austrian railway engineering group Rhomberg Sersa a contract worth more than €140 million to operate and maintain its 19 on-track machines over eight years, with an option to extend for two more. The award extends a working relationship that began in 2019 and carries a larger fleet, up from 14 machines, into its next phase.

The machines carry out tamping, ballast cleaning and ballast regulating, work usually done at night and at weekends to limit disruption to passenger services. Rhomberg Sersa's Irish operation, based in Kildare Town, employs around 70 machine operators, fitters and support and regulatory staff.

Irish Rail retains ownership of the fleet while Rhomberg Sersa operates and maintains it, what the contractor calls a unique business model within its group. That arrangement dates to a five-year contract awarded in 2019 and extended by two years, with the new eight-year term awarded after a competitive tender that began in February 2025.

Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group is a family-owned railway engineering service provider formed by the 2012 merger of Switzerland's Sersa Group and Austria's Rhomberg Rail Holding. It employs around 3,300 people worldwide, operates more than 230 rail-bound machines and reported group turnover of around €930 million in its 2025/2026 business year.

Billy Stamp, managing director for Ireland at Rhomberg Sersa Rail Group, said: "We are delighted that we have succeeded in this competitive tender and are set to continue our strong working relationship with the Irish Rail team." Stamp added: "We look forward to continuing to work together with Irish Rail to deliver vital track maintenance work across the network."

The structural driver is decarbonisation of rail maintenance, with around 400,000 tonnes of ballast reused over the past five years and the on-track fleet converted to 100 per cent HVO fuel.

For the sector, the contract keeps an experienced on-track machine team in place on the Irish network under an eight-year term with a two-year extension option.

Source: independent.ie / railuk.com / kfmradio.com / rhomberg-sersa.com