Contingency plan needed for Luas power outages, Boland says

Luas operator Transdev must urgently implement a contingency plan to ensure services continue during power outages, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Thousands of commuters in Dublin have been left stranded as Luas Green Line operations have been suspended due to a power fault.

For a time on Wednesday (December 10th), both Green and Red Line services were suspended.

“Many passengers were forced to walk along the tracks to reach their workplaces, which created unsafe conditions and significant disruption to the city’s transport network,” Dublin Fingal West TD Grace Boland said.

Video footage from College Green, a main thoroughfare in the capital, showed 11 buses unable to move due to two Luas trams, which ground to a halt due to the power outage.

“This is a vital artery for Dublin commuters, and unacceptable that a power outage can bring the entire system to a halt,” she said.

Boland pointed to international best practice, noting that cities such as Nice operate similar tram systems equipped with on-board battery capabilities. These allow trams to continue moving during electrical faults, preventing gridlock and maintaining passenger safety.

“The Luas manufacturer has been contracted for the roll-out of DART+ carriages, which will include battery packs. This demonstrates that the technology is available and feasible. There is no reason Dublin should be left vulnerable to complete shutdowns,” Boland said.

“I am calling on the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, and Transdev to urgently develop and implement a contingency plan to ensure this type of disruption does not happen again. Dublin’s commuters deserve a resilient transport system that can withstand unexpected outages.”