TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE IRELAND (TII) is set to spend an estimated €300 million on new Luas trams.

TII has initiated a preliminary market consultation for the €300 million outlay as it prepares for the further expansion of the Luas and looks to replace Luas trams currently in service.

The existing Luas network consists of 44km of track in Dublin which is serviced by 81 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs).

The current Luas LRVs were purchased in four tranches – the first 40 LRVs purchased in 2002, the next 26 in 2009, seven in 2018 and the final eight in 2020.

In the published consultation notice, TII state that “as such, the first 40 LRVs have been in service 20 years now and are approaching end-of-life”.

The TII notice – which puts an estimated €300m value on the contract – states “further expansions to the Dublin Luas network are well advanced” and these network expansions will see the requirement for additional LRVs.

In the notice, TII also states that “in addition, TII are also involved in the planning phase for a new Irish light rail network in the city of Cork”.

A spokesman for TII said today: “This is primarily a consultation process, to engage with the marketplace for research purposes, which will assist in the development of the final tender documents.

He said: “It is an important step toward an investment in maintaining a high quality Luas service as well as the future development of the Luas network. The Luas will reach its 20th year of operation in 2024, and it has been a transformational addition to the public transportation network.”

TII has stated in the notice that it intends to award a single contract to a rolling stock manufacturer to fulfil the requirements for the supply of new LRVs and the sustainable decommissioning of life-expired LRVs.

The notice states that “this contract will be used to replace end-of-life LRVs, supply new LRVs for network expansions, supply additional LRVs to meet increasing demand on existing lines, and procure new LRVs for any future new Irish light-rail networks”.

The LUAS here is operated by Transdev Ireland and last year 38 million passenger journeys were made on Luas with an average 120,000+ passenger journeys made each day.

Interested parties have until 5 October to respond to the notice.