This conversation with Frank Allen, former CEO of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), explores the Luas light rail project in Dublin and considers what can be learned from it.

The RPA was established in 2001 to deliver the Luas and a separate tender process was established to select the operator. In 2015, The RPA was folded into Transport Infrastructure Ireland which now oversees major road and public transport projects.

Frank has had a wide-ranging career beyond Luas, having first started out at the World Bank and KBC Bank. He served as Chairman of Depaul, Irish Rail and now Translink in Northern Ireland. He also advises on infrastructure finance and operations globally, especially in Europe and Asia.

Memo to File releases weekly on Thursdays.

Join us for conversations with the people who made Ireland better about doing good work, lessons learned and the institutional memory often lost over time.