Cost and performance benefits seal Irish Rail refurb deal for Muirhead
30/07/2019
Muirhead managing director, Nick Muirhead, said on presenting the development that the leather manufacturer was proud to be involved in such a prestigious project, which he said was the largest of its kind in Europe at the moment.
Project manager for IE, Aisling Norton, explained that the rail operator had chosen leather rather than fabric to cover the seats for cost and performance reasons. She said: “Over 12 years, fabric seats would have cost us €5.8 million, including cleaning, whereas the leather seats will cost €2.6 million, generating a massive saving of €3.2 million for Irish Rail.”
Ms Norton went on to say that leather was also the material of cost owing to the higher level of comfort it will offer IE passengers. “Leather is natural material,” she said, “and is more hygienic because it doesn’t trap any odours.”
IE’s chief mechanical engineer, Peter Smyth, said the partnership he and his colleagues had established with Muirhead was more than a simple supply chain relationship. “It’s been an incredible team effort,” he said. “Muirhead were able to give a lot of guidance and support on the correct product to use, the grade of product and the final finish. The whole interior looks different, feels different and feels luxurious. Customers’ initial reaction was that they must be sitting in first class and had the wrong ticket.”
Nick Muirhead said he believed this partnership with IE would set new standards in the mass-transit sector.
Adding a circular economy slant to the story, Glasgow-based Muirhead is part of the Scottish Leather Group, which purchases more than 60% of all the raw hides in the UK and Ireland to convert them into leather. This means some of the leather in the newly refurbished IE trains will have come from local cows.
Image shows Nick Muirhead on board one of the refurbished IE carriages.
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