Irish Rail's catering arm loses €1.3m

Iarnród Éireann's catering arm lost over €1 million last year and the State company has embarked on talks with the unions to restructure the business.

The Irish Times learned at the weekend that Network Catering, the arm of Irish Rail that provides catering on train services, lost €1.3 million in 2004.

Iarnród Éireann has begun talks with SIPTU, the union that represents the 180 staff that work for Network Catering, on restructuring the business, which operates as a separate brand and business unit within the public transport company.

According to a SIPTU spokesman, the talks are part of an ongoing process in Irish Rail companies aimed at introducing new work practices in its various businesses and reducing the hours of staff who work for longer than the 48 hours a-week permitted under the Working Time Act.

The negotiations are also focused on restructuring the business and making it profitable. The SIPTU spokesman said that "both sides recognised the need for change" in the business.

An Irish Rail spokesman said that the company was currently looking at "all options" for the business". Asked if it would consider outsourcing the service, he said that the company was keeping an open mind.

"We have entered into a process with the union but we have made no decision about anything yet," he said.

SIPTU's spokesman said that the union had no objection to the company looking at the possibility of outsourcing the catering service, but said there was no way it could consent to it being considered as an option. "It hasn't happened anywhere else in the company," he said.

He added that in light of developments within the company, the union agreed that there was a need for operational changes within Network Catering.

The company recently announced that it planned to spend €262 million on modernising its intercity train fleet. The National Development Plan (NDP)-funded deal is with Japanese corporations, Mitsui and Tokyu Car, and Rotem of Korea.

It pledged that the investment would see an overhaul of the fleet by 2007, when the new rolling stock comes into service. More than half its intercity fleet is more than 30 years old, and the normal life-span for trains is considered to be 25 years. The new fleet will mean more frequent services.

It is also bringing in new carriages this year for the Cork-Dublin and Dublin-Sligo routes as well as for commuter services linking the capital with Kildare, Drogheda and Skerries.