Rhomberg Sersa Ireland has completed a project to clean the Iarnród Éireann / Irish Rail (IÉ) HOBS wagons.
These bright yellow wagons are one of the workhorses of the network, carrying up to 400 tonnes of ballast in eight wagons. The ballast is the stone beneath the tracks which must be replaced as it becomes broken down over time by the trains passing over the tracks.
The photographs below show what the wagons looked like before they were cleaned and afterwards.
The wagons can be see across the network in Ireland throughout the year as ballast cleaning takes place. The ballast cleaning mostly takes place during weekend nights in order to ensure minimum disruption to passengers services. Ballast cleaning assists with the smooth and timely operation of services on the rail network.
Keep an eye out for the HOBS wagon and other On Track Machines (OTMs) on the network.