Passenger group’s Connex warning

A RAILWAY passengers’ group in Britain has warned Irish commuters about the track record of the firm awarded the contract to run the long-awaited Luas.

Railway operator Connex, which runs transport services throughout Europe and Australia, is embroiled in controversy over a number of loss-making railway lines.

The firm is to lose its contract to operate trains in south-east England while its network in Melbourne, Australia, is facing heavy debts.

Wendy Toms of the Rail Passengers Council in Britain said the company had initially proved reliable but the British Government has been forced to cut the contract short after the service deteriorated.

However, it was not fully responsible for the downturn in services as it was dependant on another firm to maintain the rail network.

“Connex has had a lot of problems, not all of their own making, and I hope it will do better in Dublin than it did here,” she said.

“Because it will be a smaller operation in Dublin with a hopefully committed local workforce, it may prove to be more successful than over here.”

The Dublin-based Rail Procurement Agency has defended its decision to award the contract to Connex.

A spokesman said it had beaten off competition from French rival TransDev and the First Group, a Manchester-based transport operator to the five-year multi-million euro contract.

Connex already runs a number of successful light-rail systems in Sydney, Bordeaux, Rouen, Barcelona and Stockholm.

The spokesman said the 25km Luas system could not be compared to the much bigger network the company operated in England.

At the time the contract was awarded in February last year, the Government said Connex had been selected as the company offering the “most economically advantageous proposal”.

No fare structure is yet available, but it is likely to be broadly in line with the DART and bus services

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 Stephen’s Green.

The Tallaght line is due to open in the first half of 2004, later than the start-up date of December 2003 that was much publicised in the run-up to the general election.