Irish Rail Sought Indra Contract Termination a Year Ago Over €50M IT System Delays

Irish Rail sought to terminate its contract with Spanish IT company Indra a year ago, citing a lack of confidence in its ability to deliver a long-delayed traffic management system (TMS). The State-owned train operator informed an Oireachtas committee that it had discussed termination with the National Transport Authority (NTA), which funds the project.

Irish Rail CEO Mary Considine is expected to tell the committee that six years after the contract was signed and two years past the original commissioning date, Indra still lacks a deployable product and remains in a development cycle. Approximately €30 million has been spent on the TMS, with Irish Rail writing down €28.2 million in payments to Indra and writing off over €17 million in project management costs. This contributes to an overall €50 million impairment.

Considine will also state that the existing central traffic control facility at Connolly Station, due for replacement by TMS in 2024, is «life-expired» and cannot support expansion. In April, Indra provided software for the first phase (Dublin to Rosslare), but testing revealed systemic issues from mid-2025, necessitating further unplanned releases and major delays. Irish Rail has no confidence the next software release will resolve these problems. External consultants WSP suggested Indra could deliver if audit recommendations were implemented.