Atm and Alstom join forces to bid for Luas maintenance contact
France's Alstom and Italy's Atm Group (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi) have announced a strategic joint venture to bid for the upcoming renewal of the Luas Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contract in Dublin.
The companies said their proposal would be built on "pillars of operational excellence, customer satisfaction, sustainability and innovative technology integration".
The partnership brings together two of Europe's biggest transport providers.
Atm Group has been operating public transport networks in Milan in Italy, since 1931, in Copenhagen in Denmark, since 2008, and in Thessaloniki in Greece, since 2023.
Recently, the company expanded its presence to Paris, France, where it was awarded the management of 18 key bus lines in the Croix du Sud area. It transports about 3 million passengers daily and has 11,000 employees.
Alstom has been working in Ireland for over 20 years and manufactured the entire fleet in service with Dublin Luas. It also currently producing battery electric trains for Dublin's DART+ network.
The company is present in 63 countries, employs over 86,000 people, and is at the forefront of low-carbon mobility. Its portfolio spans high-speed trains, metros, monorails, trams, signalling, infrastructure, and integrated digital systems.
Paolo Marchetti, Business Development Director, Atm Group, said that combining the strengths of Alstom and Atm will bring together a powerful blend of technical expertise and operational excellence.
"Leveraging Atm's century-long experience managing Europe's largest tram network in Milan - comprising 15 lines and three Light Rails over 157 km and serving more than 300,000 passengers daily - our joint venture is committed to delivering innovative and user-friendly transit solutions to support the future of Luas operations in Dublin," he said.
Piers Wood, Managing Director for Ireland, Alstom, said the companies' shared commitment to reliability, sustainability and innovation is at the core of its joint venture.
"We look forward to bringing our knowledge and our proven expertise in light rail systems to support the long-term success of Dublin's Luas network," he added
Luas carried an estimated 54 million passengers in 2024, representing an increase of over 12% on the 2023 figure of 48.2 million. It started running in 2004.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
18 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Plans to extend DART network to go ahead as judicial reviews withdrawn
Two judicial reviews for the DART+ West project linking Dublin city centre and Maynooth and the M3 Parkway have been withdrawn, paving the way for work to begin on the project next year. An Bord Pleanála approved the Railway Order for the project in July 2024, but the court actions had delayed its progression. Iarnród Éireann said the project will double the capacity and treble the electrification of the Greater Dublin Area rail network, increasing it from 50km to 150km, extending to Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Hazelhatch and Drogheda. Last month, it invited applications for the first phase of the tender process for the project. Work is expected to begin at the end of 2026, while the first of 185 new carriages are due to enter service in the same year. Irish Rail is awaiting a decision from An Bord Pleanála on the Railway Order it submitted for the DART+ Coastal North, which will link the city centre and Drogheda. The planning process is still underway for the DART+ Coastal South route linking Greystones in Wicklow to Dublin city centre.
Irish Independent
19 hours ago
- Irish Independent
DART expansion plan gets boost after High Court hears objections withdrawn
Two separate judicial reviews were originally scheduled for hearing in the High Court this week relating to the DART+ West element of the plan. The court heard that the cases, taken by two businesses in the west of Dublin city, had been withdrawn. The move means that the project, which last July was granted a Railway Order, the equivalent of planning permission for rail developments, is now free to proceed – pending Government funding. Preliminary works are expected to begin next year with contracts for the more major construction projects to be awarded by the end of 2026. DART+ West will expand the high-frequency electric train service from Dublin city to Maynooth in Co Kildare and the M3 Parkway park and ride station in Bennetstown, Co Meath. It is one of four elements of the DART+ project which would collectively triple the length of the existing service from 50km to 150km and double hourly passenger numbers from 26,000 in each direction to 52,000. DART+ West is expected to see some of the biggest increases in passenger numbers with a doubling of train services along the Maynooth line. For that to happen will require works that include provision of a new station at Spencer Dock in the city centre and developments at Connolly Station, including a new entrance at Preston Street. One other part of the project, DART+ South West, was granted a Railway Order last November. It will extend the service from Heuston Station to Hazelhatch in Co Kildare and from Heuston to the city centre via the Phoenix Park tunnel.. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more An application for a Railway Order for DART+ Coastal North, which would extend services from Dublin to Drogheda, is awaiting a decision from An Bord Pleanála. DART+ Coastal South would see increased frequency on the existing Greystones to city centre route and an application is expected to be made for it shortly. The overall project also involves the provision of 185 new rail carriages, currently on order, with the option to order 750 in total if all aspects proceed. The first ten carriages have arrived and are due to be put into service next year. Early cost estimates for the complete project were put at around €3 billion several years ago but it is expected that figure will rise. The Government has only approved funding up to contract award stage and will have to make a decision at that point whether to back the project's further progress. The judicial review proceedings against DART+ West were taken by businesses on the Navan Road in Dublin, near Ashtown railway station. A sitting of the High Court heard the cases had been struck out after an agreement had been reached that was satisfactory to all sides. A spokesperson for Irish Rail said the terms of the agreement were confidential.
Irish Times
19 hours ago
- Irish Times
Legal challenges to Dart expansion plans dropped
The extension of Dart rail services to Maynooth, Co Kildare and the M3 Parkway near Dunboyne, Co Meath can finally go ahead following the withdrawal of legal action against the project . Irish Rail said it has reached a 'confidential settlement' with two parties which had taken judicial review proceedings blocking the €1 billion Dart+ West project granted permission by An Bord Pleanála last July. Burke Brothers, a hardware and electrical wholesale company close to the Navan Road and Ashtown train station, and its neighbour Gowan Motor Group, had separately challenged the board's decision to approve the project. The High Court had set June 23rd for hearing the judicial review challenges, but both have now been withdrawn. READ MORE Irish Rail said it hoped to award contracts for construction of the line by the end of next year with services to start from 2031. The project will double train services along the Maynooth line from six to 12 per hour per direction, increasing hourly passenger capacity from 5,000 to more than 13,000 each way. The extension of the Dart to Maynooth was part of the Government's Transport 21 strategy published in 2005. However, Dart expansion programmes fell victim to the economic crash and the project did not re-emerge until 2020, rebranded as Dart+. Irish Rail at that time intended to apply for permission for the Maynooth line in mid-2021, but following public consultations which resulted in changes to the project, it deferred submitting a railway order application to An Bord Pleanála until July 2022. The project is part of Irish Rail's plans for a major expansion of Dart services, which also includes the electrification of the rail line to Drogheda, Co Louth; Celbridge, Co Kildare; and a significant upgrade in capacity to Greystones, Co Wicklow. Once completed, the full Dart+ programme aims to treble the current network from 53km to 150km and the number of people living within one kilometre of a Dart station would increase from about 250,000 currently to 600,000.
