Recruitment drive! Iarnród Éireann seeking drivers as investment set to see service expansion

Iarnród Éireann has launched a new recruitment campaign for train drivers, which will see a panel established to recruit Intercity and Commuter drivers, recruitment for DART Drivers is also ongoing.

Investment in Iarnród Éireann’s network, fleet and customer service is accelerating, which will see the role of rail expand significantly, as the backbone of Ireland’s sustainable transport network.

The roles will be based right across the country.

The company is asking women to consider driving roles, with an increasing number of women in recent trainee classes.

It also highlighted the diverse range of previous careers from which recent driver recruits have come, from banking to airlines, from defence forces to archaeology and much more.

The company’s investment programme, part of the National Development Plan and funded by the Department of Transport through the National Transport Authority, is set to see our rail services grow and customer service enhanced over the coming years, with investment including:

• A record fleet investment, with 285 new electric and battery-electric DART carriages on order, entering service from next year, and a new Enterprise fleet planned on the Dublin to Belfast line
• Planning approval is in place under the DART+ Programme to treble the electrification transform the capacity of Greater Dublin Area rail services, with infrastructure works to extend the DART to Maynooth / M3 Parkway, Drogheda and Hazelhatch
• Ongoing work on the expansion of the Cork Area Commuter Rail area
• Plans for capacity expansion on Galway and Limerick routes

Speaking about the recruitment drive, Chief Executive of Iarnród Éireann, Mary Considine said: “We in Iarnród Éireann are looking forward to welcoming our latest driver recruits.

“With so much service expansion planned under our Rail Strategy 2050, and record demand for our services, it’s an exciting time to become part of a growing organisation. 

“We are also seeing great interest in careers in Iarnród Éireann from a range of backgrounds – we are a diverse and inclusive employer, and in particular we urge more women to apply for driver roles and are encouraged by the increasing interest from women in recent recruitment drives. 

“We don’t just offer jobs, we offer careers and opportunity.”