The tram network in Dublin is called Luas, which is the Irish word for speed. A large network extension has been under construction for a number of years and is set to open on Saturday, 9 December 2017.
Works have been taking place in the city centre, leading to disruption for traffic, commuters and business alike. Now the project is about to be complete, Dublin should return to looking normal.
Luas Cross City Map
Two separate lines comprised the original system with no way to transfer without a 10 minute walk. Luas Cross City means a transfer between lines will now be quite simple, at Abbey Street, O’Connell Street and Marlborough.
Connecting to Broombridge railway station means that people from Sligo and Maynooth can connect straight on to the Luas Cross City extension and be in the city centre in twenty minutes.
Easing Congestion
Hopefully the line will ease some of the congestion in the city centre. Now that Ireland’s economy is growing, many of the previous problems relating to traffic are back in Dublin.
Since people can now take the Luas right through to O’Connell Street, this will hopefully remove some of the pedestrian congestion at St. Stephen’s Green, the current terminating point for the green line.
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- Grafton Street in Dublin
Everyone gets off at this stop, whether they are heading in to Grafton Street or going across the river to the other side of town. The new Luas Cross City should reduce this somewhat.
Frequency on the services to Broombridge will be every 10-15 minutes initially, with more frequent services coming with the arrival of new trams in 2018. They can’t come soon enough as peak hour services are already very full on the network.
Overall Thoughts
It will be excellent to go to Henry Street for shopping without having to walk from St. Stephen’s Green. It will be especially appreciated when it is raining as the more you can stay out of the weather, the better.
Any enhancement to the Dublin public transport network that does not rely on more buses is good in my book. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by William Murphy via Wikimedia Commons.
Luas Cross City Map via their web site.
Grafton Street image by Donald Y Tong via Wikimedia Commons.
Never thought of that before, the advantage for ‘us’ (who already are on the green line) going out to Broombridge for Sligo and Maynooth line actually, but that’s a great connection!! With all the pressure on hotel prices, it’ll be great for tourists too as it will make it easier to stay a bit farther out and still get around. The big thing I can’t wait for though is for the Stephen’s Green CRUSH to end, it’s horrific getting on and off, they really need to add a third platform like they did at Sandyford when they extended the line,… Read more »
Yes, it will be nice being able to go straight through without having to go through all the palaver of having to walk. Totally agree on the advantages for tourists and that industry. You could have a hotel anywhere near the line and people could get to and fro quite easily. Usually I walk from home to avoid the St. Stephen’s Green stop. It is really bad, getting off especially as there are not nearly enough card readers for all the people that get off. More of those would be good, but further away too, so you can actually get… Read more »