Luas

Sign welcoming Luas to South Dublin in 2004

The original launch date for Luas was to be 2003, but delays in construction saw this date pushed back by a year. An advertising campaign took place to inform the public of the development of the system, while construction was taking place. Construction finished in February 2004 and a period of testing and driver training began. 30 June 2004 was decided on as the official launch date of the Green Line.[13] The first tram went into service for the general public at 3 p.m. Several days of free travel and a family fun weekend took place to launch the system. The Red Line opened on 26 September 2004, with six days of free travel for the general public.[7]

By November 2006, over 50 million journeys had been made on the system.[14] Around 90,000 Luas trips are made each day. In 2007, 28.4 million journeys were made; there were 27.4 million journeys in 2008[15] and 25.4 million journeys in 2009.[16] To date, the busiest day on Luas was Friday, 21 December 2007 when 145,000 passenger journeys were recorded.

Luas operates without a state subvention. The service recorded a surplus of €985,000 (€680,000 in 2004) – an achievement well ahead of an anticipated deficit of €2.5 million.[17]

On Tuesday, 8 December 2009 the Red Line C1 Connolly to Docklands extension opened.[18] There are four stops: George's Dock, Mayor Square-NCI, Spencer Dock (serving the new Docklands railway station, approximately 350 metres (1,150 ft) away) and terminating in Point Village, opposite the 3Arena, this extension however bypasses Connolly. Construction started at the beginning of June 2007.[19] Test runs began on the line in September 2009 before the opening.[20]

On, 16 October 2010 the B1 extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood opened.

In June 2010, plans to join the two Luas tracks were finalised.[21] On 20 May 2011 Dublin City Council made submissions to An Bord Pleanála's Oral Hearing into Line BXD stating that the Planning Authority had a serious area of concern with the overhead conductor system in the historical city centre asking for a wire-free zone.[22][23]

Dominick stop construction site on Luas Cross City line, taken in Dominick Street Lower

Luas Cross City is an extension of the Green Line which links with the Red Line, and continues northwards to Broombridge in North Dublin (interchange with Iarnród Éireann station). The extension began at the existing St Stephen's Green Green Line stop. Construction started in June 2013, with services beginning in December 2017.[24]

• Line BX (includes Line D to Broombridge) – City Centre link for Red and Green Lines. The RPA started public consultation on the route in December 2005. In March 2007 the preferred route was announced.[25] The route runs from St Stephen's Green to College Green where the line changes from a double track to single track. From here it runs north through Westmoreland Street, over O'Connell Bridge and along the west side of O'Connell Street to Cathal Brugha Street. It then turns east into Cathal Brugha Street and turns south to run along Marlborough Street, across the River Liffey on the Rosie Hackett Bridge, continues along Hawkins Street and College Street and joins up with the double-track section of the line at College Green. 2012 was the original completion date given in the Transport 21 plans, but construction only started in 2013. The completion date, along with the commencement of passenger services, was December 2017. The RPA applied for a Railway Order application to An Bord Pleanála for a combined Line D / Line BX Luas Line that runs from St Stephen's Green to Broombridge via the city centre and Broadstone / Grangegorman.[26]
• Line D – City Centre to Liffey Junction. This serves Grangegorman, the site of the proposed new Dublin Institute of Technology campus. This line is linked with the Maynooth line.

On 10 November 2011, the government announced in its 2012–16 Infrastructure and Capital Investment plan that the project to link the Red and Green lines, known as BXD, was to proceed. No other new lines or extensions were being funded.[27][28] Construction work for the new Rosie Hackett bridge across the River Liffey (connecting Marlborough St and Hawkins St) began in April 2012, on which the southbound Luas BXD track was laid.[29] A Railway Order was granted by An Bord Pleanála for Luas BXD line on 3 August 2012. The project was subsequently branded as Luas Cross City.[30] Cross City opened to passengers on 9 December 2017.[31][32]

The network currently comprises two lines:

1. Red Line – The Point or Connolly station to Saggart or Tallaght (each route is approximately 20.7 kilometres (12.9 mi) long, but the total track length is longer since the Belgard-Tallaght and Belgard-Saggart sections are separate parts of the Red Line)
2. Green Line – Broombridge via Sandyford to Bride's Glen, 24.5 kilometres (15.2 mi)

The Red Line runs east-west through Dublin's Northside, then crosses the River Liffey and travels southwest to the heavily populated suburb of Tallaght, and then on through the Citywest campus to terminate at Saggart. It was planned, designed and constructed in two separate stages:

• Line A: Tallaght to O'Connell Street
• Line C: O'Connell Street to Connolly Station

This was followed by two extensions:

• Line C1 from Connolly to The Point, which opened in December 2009
• Line A1, the spur from Belgard to Saggart, which opened in July 2011

On the south side of Dublin city, the Green Line mostly follows the route of the old Harcourt Street railway line, which was reserved for possible reuse when it closed in 1958. It was known internally as Line B during planning and construction, and has also had several extensions:

• Line B was originally from Sandyford to St Stephen's Green.
• Line B1 is the extension from Sandyford to Bride's Glen which opened in July 2010.
• Line BX is the extension from St Stephen's Green to connect with the Red Line which opened in December 2017.
• Line D extends Line BX to Broombridge and opened simultaneously with Line BX in December 2017.
• Line B2 is a proposed extension from Bride's Glen to Bray.

The Red Line and Green Line have been connected to each other since 9 December 2017. There are 32 stops on the Red Line and 35 (plus two further unopened stations) on the Green Line.

A third line to Lucan (Line F) is planned. The line is planned to start in the city centre and travel north west to Lucan.

The Luas Park and a junction at Sandyford

The Nine Arches Bridge on the Green Line at Milltown

The system operates on a 750 V DC overhead power supply. The international standard rail gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) is used, rather than the Irish 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in).[33]

The silver Alstom Citadis trams, manufactured in La Rochelle, France, reach a top speed of 70 km/h on off-street sections, but travel at a slower speed on-street where conflicts with other vehicles and pedestrians can occur. The 26 initial Red Line '3000' Class trams were 30-metre (98 ft) long Citadis 301 configurations with a capacity of 256. The 14 Green Line '4000 Class' trams, each 40-metre (130 ft) long Citadis 401 configurations, have a capacity of 358 including two wheelchairs.[33] Starting in 2007, all the Red line trams were upgraded to 40 metres (130 ft) by inserting two more articulated sections, with the last one converted by June 2008.[34] Both configurations of tramcars are fully compatible with both the Red and the Green Lines.

Twenty-six new 43-metre Citadis 402 trams, numbered as the '5000 Class', were ordered for delivery in early 2009. These are 100% low-floor configuration and solely operate on the Green Line, with the 4000 Class trams cascaded to the Red Line after the entire 5000 Class had been introduced.

Seven further, 55-metre (180 ft) Citadis 402 variants were procured for use on the St. Stephen's Green – Broombridge line. They were brought into service between January and June 2018.[35] These are numbered as members of the 5000 Class, with all existing 5000 Class units being lengthened to match.[36] 8 further new units were ordered for delivery during 2020, with the first of those entering service in July 2020.[37] In October 2019, it was announced that 26 existing Green Line trams would be extended to 55 metres (180 ft).[38]

In other aspects, the two lines are identical except that the inter-axis width between the tracks on the Green Line is slightly wider than on the Red Line. The construction planning for the Green Line ensures a distance of track centres at 3,400 millimetres (11.2 ft) including a 400 millimetres (16 in) extra for the kinematic envelope of metro trains.[39] This does not relate to the track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in), which is identical on both lines. This will allow wider metro trains be run on the same tracks if a proposed upgrade to full metro service is implemented.[40] This is possible because the route uses an old railway line and as such has few interactions with vehicular or pedestrian traffic. The Railway Procurement Agency has stated (November 2006) that "We still envisage conversion of almost all Luas lines to light metro standard in the long-term.".[12] Platform length also varies between lines, with the original 40-metre (130 ft) platforms lengthened to 55 metres (180 ft) on the Green Line [41]

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 large cable-stayed bridge at Taney Cross, near Dundrum town centre.

Stillorgan Luas stop with the ticket machine and CCTV warning

Luas tickets are purple in colour and credit card sized. They bear a magnetic stripe on the back although this is not used on Luas. Uniquely among Dublin's public transport, tickets are not checked upon boarding trams; instead, a proof-of-payment system is used.

Ticket machines operate at every Luas stop and these are the only source of single-journey and return tickets. They also sell 1-day, 7-day and 30-day tickets, valid in either some or all the fare zones, for adults, children and students. It is also possible to purchase 'Combi' tickets valid on Dublin Bus and Luas. DART and Luas 'Combi' tickets have been produced since Luas opened but despite this being a major ticket option these Luas-DART Combis are not available at either ticket newsagents or online from either Iarnród Éireann or Luas, nor are they available in Luas vending machines. They are available only from Iarnród Éireann ticket offices. Transport user lobby groups like 'Rail Users Ireland' have written to both Luas and Iarnród Éireann asking for an explanation for this and none has been forthcoming. While it is also possible to purchase Luas-DART-Dublin Bus 'triple combi' tickets (from Iarnród Éireann booking offices) from monthly ramblers upward, these are often more expensive than simply topping up a Leap Card to its weekly cap rate (currently €40 for Adults). Certain ticket combinations are not possible (for example a one-day student ticket), and tickets can only be valid from the stop at which they are purchased and must commence their validity within 90 minutes, valid until a specific time shown on the card. Certain tickets require the user to hold an ID card and write the number on the ticket, to prevent the ticket from being transferred to another person. Ticket machines accept card payments (by American Express, Laser, MasterCard, or Visa and have a weekly limit of €150 (upper limit changed from €50 per transaction to €150 per week in January 2012 after upgrading all POS terminals to have a PIN keypad).[42] Formerly €5 was the minimum amount which could be paid via card, but this limit has since been removed.[43] Like other Irish transport operators, Luas has taken to requiring students to purchase a special Student Travelcard, not recognising their student cards as enough to get a discount. These have been merged with the Leap Cards to form a personalised orange Leap Card with new benefits such as lower daily caps.

Luas tickets are sold at newsagents and other shops, mostly in the vicinity of Luas stops. Joint Luas and Dublin Bus tickets can be purchased from Luas vending machines for immediate use, as well as from Dublin Bus ticket agents. Tickets bought at Dublin Bus agents must be validated on a bus before being valid for a tram (since Luas does not use ticket validation systems upon boarding the tram). Certain tickets are cheaper in shops than at ticket machines. Tickets cannot be purchased on board the trams.

Both lines are divided into 5 zones, the central zone being shared. Fares are calculated based on how many zones a journey is taken through. There is a stop on the border of each zone, which is considered to be in whichever zone is more beneficial to the traveller. It is necessary to walk between the two lines, most commonly between O'Connell Street-GPO (on the Green Line) and Abbey Street (on the Red Line). Alternatives include buses (the number 18 links Ranelagh to Kylemore, although these are not included on the ticket) and taxis.

Luas on the Northside

In March 2005, a smartcard for Luas was launched. The smartcard was phased out following launch of the integrated Leap Card which is further detailed below. The final day of Luas Smartcard operations was on 30 September 2014. The Luas smartcard allowed travellers to pay for travel on the Luas network. Credit was pre-loaded onto the smartcard at ticket machines by cash, debit card or credit card, with a minimum top-up of €5 and a maximum credit on the card of €100, and the customer had to validate the card using readers on the platform before boarding the tram and then again after exiting the tram. This is still referred to as 'tag-on' and 'tag-off' on the current Leap Card system.

A smartcard could be purchased at a Luas ticket agent or online.[44] The card cost €10, which included a €3 non-refundable charge for the card, €3 of credit and €4 for a fully refundable 'reserve fund' which allowed travel even if there was insufficient credit on the card for the journey. The card had to be topped up before another journey could be taken.

Smartcard fares were slightly cheaper than standard single and return fares from ticket machines. For example, a journey within a single zone cost €1.25 with the card, compared to €1.50 (€1.60 during peak time) single with a paper ticket, or €2.80 return. Daily, 7-day and 30-day tickets generally worked out cheaper, unless used only rarely. Luas smartcards were unable to store multiple-journey tickets and these tickets were issued on paper only until May 2014, since all tickets have been loaded onto the new Leap Cards.

Until January 2012 there were three different smart-card systems in Dublin: the Luas smart-card, the Dublin Bus prepaid Smartcard system for day-cards or longer[45] and the smart-card for commuter trains and the DART which is -as the Luas card- a per journey tag on/off card but not compatible with Luas cards.[46]

Over a number of years, the Railway Procurement Agency had been working on the design of an integrated ticketing system [47] and was many years behind schedule and is estimated to have cost €30m to complete.[48] This new card, marketed under the name Leap Card has been fully operational since January 2012 and allows the purchase of single journey tickets for Luas, DART, Commuter and Dublin Bus routes. The card carries a credit, which can be topped up, which is then used to pay fares. On Dublin Bus, passengers present the card to the driver's ticketing machine and ask for the appropriate ticket. On Luas, passengers "tag-on" before entering the tram and "tag off" at the destination; the correct fare is then deducted. The same applies to DART and Commuter trains, but there the tagging is normally done when passing the electronic entry/exit gates. (For stations without these gates, there are tag-on/off terminals at the platform).

The "Leap Card" smartcard has functionality that it caps the daily and weekly spend to ensure Leap Card holders do not pay more than they would have had they bought day, weekly, or monthly tickets. This functionality had been enabled on Luas and DART services. As of 2017, the National Transport Authority reported the number of Leap Card users was 2.5 million.[49]

All persons in Ireland are entitled to be issued with a Public Services Card for accessing key public services and for identity purposes. Persons on the following Social Welfare payments are provided with a Public Services Card with yellow "FT" in the top right-hand corner, which functions as a smart card in the same way as a Leap Card, but allows free travel:

• Pension (senior citizens over 66)
• Disability Allowance (persons with a disabling medical condition lasting longer than a year approved by a general practitioner, a departmental medical officer or a departmental welfare officer)
• Carers Allowance

Contrary to popular belief, free travel Public Services Cards are not given to persons on Jobseekers or any other social welfare payments other than those listed above, and they do not come automatically with any particular medical condition.

In practice, on Luas, this scheme is extended to holders of pensioner travel passes from the United Kingdom too. Visitors from non-European countries to Ireland must pay full adult fare on buses, trams and trains regardless of their age or disability, and would thus be better off financially with a Leap Visitor Card set with the appropriate period pre-loaded (24 hours, 3 days, 7 days).

The free travel system was created by Ministerial Order (not an Act of the Oireachtas as with many such schemes) by then Minister for Health, Charles J Haughey in the late 1960s and is considered a 'third rail' politically.

Electronic sign at a Luas stop indicating the minutes until the next tram.

Trams operate from 05:30 to 00:30 Monday to Friday. On Saturday services run from 06:30 to 00:30, while on Sundays it is only from 07:00 to 23:30. Public holidays are the same as Sundays, except trams run until 00:30. Services run at regular intervals, from every 4–5 minutes during peak times to every 15 minutes late at night.

During the Christmas season (from early December to the last weekend before Christmas), a night service runs on Luas during Friday and Saturday nights (as well as on New Year's Eve), with the last trams departing the city centre at 03:30. However, fares are priced at a premium of €5 single (€4 on Leap Cards).

Luas tram crossing the Liffey (a yellow stripe around the trams has since been added to improve visibility)

The low floors and wide spaces of the Citadis trams mean that wheelchair users can easily board. All stations have also been designed with ramps, to allow easy access. Several have lifts, such as Kilmacud and Dundrum on the Green Line, while Connolly Station has escalators that connect the Luas station to the main station building. The website for Luas also has an accessibility newsletter.

Sign warning of Luas track ahead

Before Luas was launched, a Safety Awareness Day was held in Dublin city centre. Thousands of reflective armbands were distributed to pedestrians and cyclists, in order to ensure their visibility for tram drivers. This policy seems to have worked as Luas has been described as being "one of the safest transport systems in the world".[50] Both trams and stops are monitored using CCTV 24 hours a day from the central control room, located in the Red Cow Depot.[51]

Before Luas was launched, it was feared that the tram system would lead to a high number of fatal accidents. So far, however, there have been only four fatalities. There have been many occurrences of cars striking trams, mainly caused by motorists breaking red lights. On 16 September 2009, a Luas collided with a Dublin Bus at the O'Connell Street-Abbey Street Junction. In the collision, 22 people were injured, three of them seriously, including the tram driver. Early investigations suggested that the bus had the green light to move, and that the Luas must have had technical problems.[52] The Luas driver was later charged with dangerous driving, causing harm and operating a tram in a manner which posed risk to others. He was subsequently acquitted of dangerous conduct by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.[53]

Security on Luas trams, platforms and facilities is provided by STT Rail Security, a division of STT Risk Management.[54][55] STT employees patrol the system to counter anti-social or other incidents,[56] and sometimes intervene in incidents prior to the arrival of the Gardaí. Security officers are not armed, but wear tactical uniforms and stab-resistant body vests.[57]

On 26 September 2019, Luas security grabbed a passenger by the neck and threw him to the ground, breaking a bone in his hand.[58] He was then pinned by two security guards for several minutes, despite repeatedly telling them that he could not breathe.[58] The incident is being investigated by the Gardai.[58]

The following day, on 27 September, an unidentified minor was tackled to the ground and restrained by two Luas security guards.[59] Transdev later confirmed that the incident was being investigated, but declined to comment further.[59]

Luas Line B2
Proposed
to Finglas Brides Glen Stonebridge Crinken Old Connaught Thornhill Fassaroe Corke Abbey Ravenswell Bray

• Line B2 – Cherrywood to Bray environs extension (Green Line). This is a proposed extension of 6.8 km (4.2 mi). On 6 June 2007, the route of this Luas extension was announced. It is proposed to run from Brides Glen to Fassaroe and Bray (adjacent to the DART station), and will run very close to the M11 motorway, eventually crossing it near the Wilford interchange.[86] This extension was postponed in 2009 due to the Post-2008 Irish economic downturn, and while it has been proposed again in the decade since, as of October 2020, the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan confirmed the extension will not commence in the short term.[87]

Following the introduction of Luas in Dublin, there is support to bring trams to other Irish cities. During the 2007 election campaign, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party both announced plans for tram systems in Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Bray. The 2007 Programme for Government between these two parties and the Progressive Democrats included feasibility studies on these projects within the first two years of the government.[88] Cork and Limerick were expected to complete their studies by "mid 2009".[89] As a result of the financial crisis beginning in 2008, a moratorium was placed on future capital projects; as such, no feasibility studies have been completed as of 2017.

In May 2019, plans were revealed for a Luas-style system in Cork. The system would consist of a 17 kilometres (11 mi) long line with 25 stops from Ballincollig to Mahon Point.[90]