The current operator of the Luas, Transdev, is taking legal advice amid a review of the award of the next operations and maintenance contract to a different company.
The French transport company said it was “continuing to assess the outcome of the tender process in detail [ ...] with the support of our legal advisers”, in a letter to staff seen by The Irish Times.
Should a legal action be taken in relation to the awarding of the contract, the review of the tender will be carried out by the High Court. To date, no judicial proceedings have been instigated by the company.
Any judicial review on the matter would examine the legality of a decision made by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) and the National Transport Authority (NTA). Any review would determine whether the decision-making process was flawed, not the merits of the decision or bids, and a stay could be placed on the decision during a review.
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From September, the operation of the tram service will be a joint venture between French transport company Keolis and British operations firm Amey, State bodies TII and the NTA confirmed on Thursday.
The news that KeolisAmey was set to be awarded the contract was first reported by The Irish Times in February and comes as Transdev lost out on the contract after 22 years of running the service.
The current Luas operations contract with Transdev was extended to September to facilitate the tendering process for the new contract, which is worth €1.3 billion for the initial term of seven years, with an option to extend for a further six years.
The letter from Transdev Dublin’s chief executive Ben Dwars, which was distributed to staff on Thursday, acknowledged the company had not been successful in its bid for the new operational contract.
Dwars said Transdev “is continuing to assess the outcome of the tender process in detail”.
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“This assessment is being undertaken with the support of our legal advisers and within the rights and timelines available to bidders under the applicable public procurement framework.
“We will continue to keep colleagues informed as this review progresses. Once this process has concluded, we will communicate further regarding the next steps for the company and for employees.”
KeolisAmey, the French-British joint venture, is split 65 to 35 in favour of the French transportation company.
The pair have run the Docklands Light Railway in London since 2014 as part of a separate joint venture led out by the French company. They were recently awarded a new eight-year contract for the service. They also run Manchester’s metrolink network.
In a statement on Thursday, TII said it expected the vast majority of Luas staff would opt to transfer to KeolisAmey in accordance with the European Union regulations on the transfer of undertakings.
Among the other bidders was a joint venture between two infrastructure giants, Italy’s Azienda Trasporti Milanesi and French-listed Alstom, and the existing contract holder Transdev.
