Freight rail in Ireland

Mention of the IÉ wagons at ~17:15. They first two prototypes/pre-production units for the main 150-unit intermodal fleet order are being made and should arrive during the summer for testing! The main production run is then expected to start next year. The prototypes for the second order of 68 units for the maintenance fleet of 68 will only start after the freight units, so might still be a while before we see those units.

See my comment below for more details, but I believe this is a significant increase in number of vehicles and capacity. The current freight fleet is only 124 wagons, although I am not sure how many are actually being replaced. Also, if they are purely intermodal wagons they couldn't replace the Ballina wood and Tara mine wagons. However, I am not sure exactly how they will be deployed. Also keep in mind, not only is the freight order larger, but the wagons are also higher capacity(likely longer, but officially they have just said higher payloads) and are capable of higher top speeds. All should help bring a good bit more freight capacity and make it less disruptive to the network.

The maintenance fleet is about the same size, technically a few units smaller, however I don't expect it to make much of a difference. Again, the wagons being higher capacity should make up for this.