Luas franchise awarded to French company
Tuesday, 26 February 2002 21:53The multi-million euro contract to operate the LUAS franchise has been awarded to French company, Connex. The announcement was widely expected, although two other companies, French operator TransDev and British firm First Group, had also been short-listed. A joint bid by Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus was eliminated from the process at an early stage.
Connex operates transport services throughout Europe and Australia and is now being contracted to operate LUAS from 2004 to 2009. Three LUAS lines are due to open in December 2003, after a ¤635m construction programme.
The first LUAS line will link Tallaght with Abbey Street via Heuston Station, a second line will connect Connolly Station to Abbey Street and the third line will link Sandyford with St Stephens Green.
Connex has a mixed reputation. Its network in Melbourne is facing losses of ¤40m while in Britain, the firm lost its franchise to run London's South Central line.
