Procurement of new Light Rail Vehicles and Sustainable Decommissioning of Life-Expired Light Rail Vehicles

Description

The Dublin light-rail network known as Luas, provides frequent, efficient, reliable connectivity between urban villages and Dublin City centre locations. The network consists of 44km of track which is serviced by 81 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs). The current Luas LRVs were purchased in 4 tranches, the first 40 LRVs purchased circa 2002, the next 26 circa 2009, 7 in 2018 and the final 8 in 2020. As such, the first 40 LRVs have been in service circa 20 years now and are approaching end-of-life. Further expansions to the Dublin Luas network are well advanced and details of such projects can be found in the NTA’s ‘Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042’ (see link below), these network expansions will see the requirement for additional LRVs. In addition, TII are also involved in the planning phase for a new Irish light rail network in the city of Cork. TII 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. 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. For specific future Irish LRV projects, the trams may be circa 30m, 40m or 50m long and must be extendable from circa 30m to 40m in length or from circa 40m to 50m in length. Catenary-free trams may also be required for some batches. It is anticipated that the first LRVs ordered using the contract will be for the replacement of soon-to-be life-expired LRVs procured circa 2002. TII intends to place this order on the contract award date or soon thereafter. The primary purpose of this consultation process is to identify interested parties and to actively engage with them for the purpose of market research which will be used to assist in the development of the final set of tender documentation. https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/NTA-GDA-Transport-Strategy-2022-42-15.11.21-FA-WEB-1.pdf