Alstom to fit ETCS to up to 176 Irish Rail vehicles

Alstom will fit ETCS train protection equipment to up to 176 vehicles of Ireland's existing train fleet under contracts worth about €95 million. The contracts with Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) were signed in Dublin on 13 October 2026 and announced on 14 October. They cover the design, manufacture, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance of ETCS Level 1 on-board equipment.

What ETCS does

ETCS (European Train Control System) is the European standard for train protection. Equipment in the driver's cab receives information from the track and supervises the train's speed and its permission to move. If the driver does not respond, the system can brake the train to a stop. In Level 1, the information is sent by balises, small transponders fixed between the rails, which pass on what the lineside signals show. The signals stay in place.

Seven fleet types to equip

According to Alstom, the contracts cover up to seven types of vehicle:

• 22000 Class InterCity Railcars;
• 29000 Class railcars;
• DART 8500 Class electric trains;
• 2800 Class and 2600 Class railcars;
• 201 Class locomotives;
• Mark 4 Driving Van Trailers;
• as an option, 071 Class locomotives.

Alstom has not given numbers per class. For each fleet type, a first "Head of Series" vehicle will be fitted and tested. Fleet-wide installation, system integration, testing, safety assurance and authorisation for passenger service will follow. The work will be done in dedicated facilities in Dublin. No completion date has been published.

Part of a national train protection programme

The contracts belong to Iarnród Éireann's Train Protection System (TPS) National Rollout Programme, which will make ETCS the main signalling technology in Ireland. Several steps are already done:

• about 120 km of ETCS Level 1 trackside equipment between Dundalk and Greystones, completed by Alstom in early 2025 with more than 1,200 balises and over 450 lineside electronic units added to the existing signals;
• certification of ETCS on 22000 Class unit 22001, the first Irish train fitted with the system, announced in September 2025;
• the new 90000 and 80000 Class X'trapolis DART+ trains, built by Alstom with ETCS as standard, due to enter service in Greater Dublin from 2027.

The tender for trackside equipment on the rest of the network is still under way, with a contract award targeted for mid-2027. "This is a programme of work which will further strengthen safety on Ireland's railways," said Mary Considine, chief executive of Iarnród Éireann. Andrew DeLeone, Alstom's Europe Region President, called the contracts "an important milestone in Ireland's railway modernisation journey".

TrainsNews analysis

Retrofitting ETCS is often harder than fitting it to new trains. Each of the seven vehicle types needs its own design: space in the cab for the driver display, mounting points for the balise antenna under the body, speed and distance sensors, and above all a safe interface with the brakes. This explains the "Head of Series" approach: one prototype per type, tested and approved, before the rest of the fleet is converted. Getting seven designs authorised is the main schedule risk.

The order of work is sensible. Equipping trains before the national trackside contract is awarded avoids lines being ready while trains are not. However, the future trackside supplier is not yet known. If it is not Alstom, extensive compatibility testing between suppliers will be needed.

Level 1 with balises linked to existing signals brings a clear safety gain, mainly protection against passing a signal at danger and against overspeed. It does not add capacity by itself, and without extra "infill" equipment a train only receives an improved signal aspect at the next balise, which can slow operations slightly. The programme is about safety first, on a common standard open to later upgrades.

Further reading: our directory of European rail infrastructure managers and our train travel guides.

Sources: Alstom press release (14 October 2026); Alstom press release on the Dundalk–Greystones ETCS installation (10 February 2025).