The Luas network is build under supervision of the Railway Procurement Agency. The franchise to run Luas has been publically tendered. CIE companies like Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann were excluded.

The Connex group won the operating franchise. The tickets in the Dublin region of Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann, Connex en some private bus operators will be integrated as from the autumn of 2005 when a new chip card will be introduced. Until then the will be a very limited tariff integration, mainly through day, weekly and monthly tickets. Luas tickets will be 15 percent dearer than Dublin Bus tickets for a comparable distance.