Luas

Luas (Irish for 'speed'), also promoted in the development stage as the Dublin Light Rail System, currently encompasses two unconnected on-street light rail lines in Dublin, Ireland. Originally under the organisation of Córas Iompair Éireann, the project was moved to the Railway Procurement Agency upon that body's inception, whilst it is operated by Connex. The Luas is a major part of the Dublin Transportation Office's http://www.dto.ie 'DTO strategy (2000-2016)'.

Criticism

The Luas system is very popular with commuters, being seen as clean, dependable and reasonably good value. Nevertheless, there has been some criticism of the system and its pre-operational organisation.

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The project exceeded its budget by a sizeable amount, costing over €700 million, and there were many delays throughout its construction. There were significant costs associated with building two physically separate tram lines at the same time. For instance, whereas one depot would ordinarily be used, two were constructed.

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The system may not be compatible with the proposed metro system for Dublin. The Green Line will, in any case, have to be upgraded to connect it to the Red Line. At present it is possible to buy a ticket from a point on the Green Line to a point on the Red Line, but it is not possible to make such a journey because the two lines are not connected.

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There was considerable disruption to traffic during construction work. Businesses also suffered immensely because of the disruption, and visitors to the city were inconvenienced. However, the Green Line has already proved extremely popular, bringing many more visitors into the city centre, and carrying a reported 700,000 passengers in its first month of operation. The Red Line is subject to similar heavy usage, exacerbated by the shorter (30 m) trams used.

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Within hours of starting service, a Luas tram had collided with a car on Harcourt Street, while near-collisions were an occasional problem as of August 2004. A second collision with a car was reported on the Red Line at the end of August 2004, which at the time was undergoing final testing prior to the public launch due at the end of September 2004. September 2004 also witnessed the first collision between two Luas trams, at the crossover at the St. Stephens Green terminus. Derailments are not uncommon, two having been reported on the Green Line in the two months after opening.

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The price of tickets has also been criticised, with a minimum fare of €1.30 being charged for an adult single journey within a single zone. Unlike other public transport in Dublin, where tickets must be shown every time you use the service, the Luas relies on frequent ticket checking by inspectors on the trams - you can expect to show your ticket or smartcard on roughly one-third of the journeys.

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