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)'.

Operation

Services commenced on the Green Line on Wednesday 30 June 2004, with free fares to all for the first five days of operation. The Red Line opened on 28 September 2004, almost a month behind schedule. It remains to be seen whether the Luas will prove effective in combating Dublin's traffic congestion problems.

Related Topics:
30 June - 2004 - 28 September - Traffic congestion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Red and Green Lines are separate lines, with separate depots and facilities, and fixed allocations of trams; there is no simple method to transfer trams between the two lines.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Network

The system runs off a 750 V DC overhead power supply, and one two-carriage tram can carry 235 people. The international standard rail gauge of 1435 mm (4' 8½" ins) is used, rather than the Irish 1,600 mm (5' 3").

Related Topics:
V - DC - Standard - Rail gauge

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The system was built comprising two lines:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Red Line: Tallaght to Connolly
• Green Line: St. Stephen's Green to Sandyford

In the original plans, the Red Line was subdivided into "Line A" from Tallaght to Abbey Street and "Line C" from Abbey Street to Connolly Station, whilst "Line B" was the alternative name for the Green Line. This terminology, which splits the network into three lines, is not currently used. Early reports also discussed a "Line D" from Broadstone to Ballymun and Dublin Airport and an underground "Line E" from St Stephen's Green to Broadstone - these would have formed a third line, from St Stephen's Green to Dublin Airport. However no firm details were set, though several proposed routes were investigated with a completion date of 2005 envisioned at the time.

Related Topics:
Broadstone - Ballymun - Dublin Airport

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Red Line runs in an east-west direction through Dublin's Northside, then crosses the Liffey and travels south-west to the suburb of Tallaght. The Green Line is entirely in Dublin's Southside. Apart from the city centre section where it runs down Harcourt Street to St. Stephen's Green, it follows the route of the old Harcourt Street railway line, which was reserved for possible re-use when it closed in 1958. The Red Line and Green Line are not connected to each other, with a 15-minute walk between the two closest points. Services run on a regular frequency, from every five minutes during peak times to every 15 minutes late at night. The last tram leaves the terminus at 0030, except on Sundays and public holidays when the last tram is at 2330.

Related Topics:
Northside - Liffey - Southside - 1958

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Features

The sleek silver Alstom Citadis trams reach a top speed of 70 km/h on off-road sections, but travel at a slower speed where conflicts with other vehicles or pedestrians can occur. Red Line trams, at 30 m with a capacity of 235, are shorter than the 40 m Green Line trams, which have a capacity 358 including for two wheelchairs. All platforms have been constructed to 50 m length, allowing for future increases in capacity.

Related Topics:
Alstom - Citadis - Km/h

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In other aspects, the two lines are identical except that the clearance between the inbound and outbound lines on the Green Line is slightly wider than on the Red Line. This will allow wider metro trains be run on the same tracks if a proposed upgrade to full metro service is implemented. This is possible because the route uses an old railway line and as such has few interactions with vehicular or pedestrian traffic. The Red Line was constructed largely on or beside public roads and would not be suited to wider and faster metro trains.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The main engineering structures on the Green Line at present are Milltown Viaduct, also known as "The Nine Arches", a large stone viaduct dating from 1854, and the "William Dargan Bridge", a newly-built large cable-stayed suspension bridge at Taney Cross, near Dundrum town centre. The crossing of the Red Line over the M50 motorway at the Red Cow Roundabout also has its own bridge, but this is unremarkable.

Related Topics:
William Dargan - Bridge - Dundrum - M50 motorway

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Future

It was reported (Sunday Times, 31 October 2004) that a €70 million plan to link the two lines would be presented to the Irish Government by the Minister for Transport before the end of 2004. The link would be about 1 km long, and would extend the Green Line from St Stephen's Green, down Dawson Street, around College Green and over O'Connell Bridge via Westmoreland Street to join the Red Line in Abbey Street.As of 2005 a final decision has not been announced.

Related Topics:
31 October - 2004 - € - Irish Government - Minister for Transport - O'Connell Bridge - 2005

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are also more tentative plans to extend the Red Line eastwards past Connolly Station and through the International Financial Services Centre to terminate at the Point Depot.

Related Topics:
Connolly Station - International Financial Services Centre - Point Depot

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are realistic plans to extend the existing Green Line from its Sandyford Terminus to Cherry Wood in the south-east of the City.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For the very distant future there have been proposals to link the Red and Green Lines via the southern suburbs of Dublin. This idea involves routing the Luas from Tallaght through Firhouse & Knocklyon, Balinteer and then to Dundrum or perhaps Sandyford. There is sufficient space for such a tram line alongside the M50 motorway, which runs more or less along this route.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~