Road transport services

Tender description

The NTA, as the competent authority for the purposes of Regulation 1370/2007, has determined, in accordance with Regulation 1370/2007 and applicable national legislation, to directly award a contract to Bus Eireann for the provision of public passenger transport services by bus with a commencement date of 1.12.2019, following the expiry of the current direct award contract on 30.11.2019. The NTA, as the competent Authority for the purposes of Regulation 1370/2007, has determined, in accordance with Regulation 1370/2007 and applicable national legislation, to directly award a contract to Bus Eireann for the provision of public passenger transport services by bus with a commencement date of 1.12.2019, following the expiry of the current direct award contract on 30.11.2019. The direct award contract will consist of two elements: the direct award of certain routes for a period of five years from 1.12.2019, and the direct award of certain other routes for a period currently anticipated to be not greater than 2 years from 1.12.2019, which routes the NTA currently intends will be subject to competitive tendering for service provision to allow for the provision of those services on the expiry of the 2-year maximum period (although this may change). The routes contained in the direct award contract are set out in detail at http://www.nationaltransport.ie/public-transport-services/public-service-obligation-contracts but include regional city services in Cork City, Limerick City, Galway City and Waterford City, regional town services in Balbriggan, Navan, Drogheda, Dundalk, Athlone, and Sligo, and a number of other routes in the Dublin commuter belt and nationwide. The 2-year routes are currently anticipated to be certain routes within the Eastern Commuter Route. This notice constitutes advance notification to the market, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(2) of Regulation 1370/2007, of the Authority’s intention to award a direct award contract in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 1370/2007, and to hold a tender competition for the 2-year routes referred to in the preceding paragraph. Interested parties should note, in respect of the tender competition, that the Authority may run one or more competitions in respect of the 2-year routes: for example, it may choose to run separate competitions for different groups of routes within the 2-year routes.