Qualification System for the Provision of Public Bus Services in Ireland

The Qualification System is a staged process, described further in the Information Memorandum. In summary, interested parties may apply to be admitted to the Qualification System at any time. The criteria for admission to the Qualification System are set out in the Information Memorandum.

The scope of the Services that may be required under each specific Contract from this qualification system will be set out in detail in the tender documents in respect of each Contract. Each Contract is expected to comprise but not be limited to the following principal obligations: • Operate and maintain Bus Vehicles for the duration of the Contract; • Operate reliable and punctual public bus services on any routes as set out in any Call-Off Competition; • Provide customer care services; • Collect and reconcile passenger fare revenue, and issue tickets to passengers, and provide associated data to the Authority as required; • Provide operational data for use by the Authority’s passenger information and journey planning systems and its contractual performance monitoring systems; and • Report on contractual operations and performance on a four weekly or quarterly basis, depending on contract requirements. The tenders will be split by region (Leinster (excluding Dublin metropolitan area), Ulster, Munster (excluding Cork metropolitan area), Connaught, Dublin metropolitan area and Cork metropolitan area) and by service type (urban bus services and stage carriage /interurban/commuter bus services). Candidates should note that the routes and/or bus stops may be subject to alteration during the life of the contract, either on a short term basis (e.g. to facilitate roadworks) or otherwise, including the potential for the inclusion of additional routes or an increase in frequency over the duration of the contract.