IRELAND: The Railway Procurement Agency has awarded the infrastructure maintenance contract for Dublin’s Luas light rail network to Alstom after a competitive tender.
The five-year contract, which will take effect on October 1, is worth more than €30m for Alstom and its partner Dalkia, with Alstom’s share being €24m. There is an option to extend the contract by a further five years. Alstom and Dalkia have maintained the light rail infrastructure since Luas entered service in 2004.
Over the course of the new contract the network will expand by 50% as line extensions totalling 13·3 km are put into service. Alstom is currently supplying 26 Citadis 402 trams to RPA, which will increase the fleet to 66 vehicles by 2010. They are maintained by Alstom at the Red Cow and Sandyford depots.
According to Alstom Ireland’s Managing Director, Niall Gleeson, retaining the contract ‘reflects our customer’s continued confidence in Alstom to deliver a complete package of rolling stock and maintenance of the successful Luas system.’
Read more about the evolution of Dublin’s urban rail system in the September 2009 issue of Metro Report International.
