Ireland’s national rail operator Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) has appointed Mott MacDonald to lead its “Connect” intercity rail improvement programme.
Funded by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility and Ireland’s National Development Plan 2021–2030, it aims to modernise infrastructure, reduce carbon emissions and deliver faster, more frequent passenger services, focussing on the Dublin-to-Cork and Dublin-to-Limerick corridors.
Mott MacDonald will develop a comprehensive implementation strategy, a decarbonisation roadmap, detailed technical studies and stakeholder engagement.
Its job will be to define the infrastructure, service and policy interventions needed to deliver a high-capacity, low-carbon rail network.
The company said early findings suggest that journey time reductions of up to 30 minutes on intercity routes could be achieved with targeted infrastructure upgrades, higher line speeds of up to 200km/h, and the planned introduction of a new electric fleet.
Iarnród Éireann wants to double annual intercity passenger numbers by 2050, leading to a significant modal shift from car to rail.
The operator’s chief executive, Mary Considine, said the goal was to make rail “the backbone of a sustainable transport system for Ireland’s citizens”.
Tony O’Toole, Mott MacDonald’s managing director for rail in UK and Europe, said: “This is a pivotal moment for Irish transport and we are proud to help deliver a faster, greener and more connected future.”
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