Irish Railway Record Society

Journal 166 - LUAS

RAILWAY PROCUREMENT AGENCY (LUAS)

RED LINE

Red Cow Work on remodelling the M50/N7/R110 interchange is progressing steadily. As part of this work, the Red Line is to be diverted so as to provide a totally segregated route through the site. The bridge which will carry the N7 Southbound over the line has been completed, as has the one where the line will cross the M50 Northbound-R110 eastbound slip road.

Part of the Park+Ride site has been closed to allow the construction of a new alignment for the line.

SYSTEM EXTENSIONS

Line A1 (Belgard-Citywest) Following the display period of the draft Railway Order Application, an oral hearing was held on 11 March at the offices of An Bord Pleanála in Dublin. The hearing concluded in one day and the case is due to be decided by 17 June.

Line B1 (Sandyford-Bride’s Glen) The RPA has sought planning permission for the construction of an electricity substation adjacent to the entrance gates at Glencairn House on Murphystown Road.

Area 13 (Sandyford-Murphystown Rd) The Sandyford Park+Ride facility closed in early January to allow work take place on the diversion of a large water main.

Erection of the steel spans for the sharply curved bridge over the Brewery Rd/ Leopardstown Rd roundabout has been completed. Work is now in progress on the installation of the concrete bridge deck and parapets.

Trackbed works to the rear of Central Park are progressing steadily. Construction of the supporting piers for the bridge over the M50 at Leopardstown was completed by mid-February and erection of the structural steel spans over the motorway took place over the weekend of 28-30 March. Construction of the concrete bridge deck and parapets is well advanced.

Area 15 (Ballyogan Wood-Bride’s Glen) Construction of the concrete deck and parapets of the bridge, which will carry the line over the M50 close to Junction 15 at Carrickmines has been completed.

The replacement bridge at Glenamuck Rd, adjacent to the former Carrickmines station, was substantially complete by the end of March. Work on the new road is in progress.

The 300m long Spine Rd underpass, between the Brennanstown and Laughanstown stops, is complete.

Erection of the steelwork spanning the Wyattville Link Rd took place over the weekends of 15-17 and 22-24 March. Work on the construction of the concrete bridge deck and parapets is continuing apace.

Line B2 (Brides Glen-Bray Area) The emerging preferred route will follow the alignment of the former Harcourt Street rail line across the existing Bride's Glen viaduct, before running to the rear of St Columcilles Hospital to the M11. A decision on whether to cross the motorway by an over or under bridge is still the subject of public consultation.  The line will continue south, along the eastern side of the M11, before crossing back to the western side of the motorway on a new bridge to the north of the Wilford interchange.

The line will then split into two routes. One will continue south to terminate at Fassaroe, while the other will turn eastward to run along Old Connaught Avenue, re-crossing the M11 and the Dublin Road, before passing through the proposed new town centre site to terminate at Bray DART station. The overall length of the line will be approximately 8.7 km.

As part of the continuing public consultation process, the RPA held a local information evening in Shankill on Friday 4 April. Members of the public were invited to express their views on the M11 crossing, stop locations and other issues relating to Line B2 in the area.

The RPA has begun the process of preparing a Railway Order application for Line B2. This involves the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which will report on the likelihood of significant environmental impacts resulting from the building and operation of the line. The EIS will be developed from the output of an Environmental Impact Assessment and a critical step in the process is determining the scope and level of information to be included. To achieve this, a Draft Scoping Report was produced outlining what is proposed to be included in the EIS and the views of interested parties were sought.

Line BX (St Stephen’s Green-O’Connell St) Dublin City Council is finalising traffic modelling work as part of its examination of revised traffic management arrangements for the city centre. These will be required for the construction of the line. Following completion of further detailed design work and, subject to a satisfactory outcome of the city centre traffic management planning work, the RPA plans to submit a Railway Order application for Line BX to An Bord Pleanála in 2008.

However, following discussions with Dublin City Council and business interests in the city centre, it became clear that constructing Line BX, while simultaneously building major stops for Metro North at St. Stephen’s Green, O’Connell Bridge and Parnell Square, would result in an unacceptable level of disruption. The Agency suggested that track works in areas such as St. Stephen’s Green, Westmoreland Street and parts of O’Connell Street take place when the streets are being reinstated in the final phase of the metro project. The remainder of Line BX would be completed once the metro was operational.

Line C1 (Connolly Station-Point Depot) The infrastructure works contract for Line C1 has been awarded to M-Pact JV. The contract covers civil, track, overhead line, signalling and power supply works. Utility works, excluding those being undertaken as part of other contracts, are also covered. M-Pact is a joint venture between the Irish company Laing O'Rourke and the GrantRail Group of England.

Utility diversion works are progressing along the length of the alignment.

Area 16 (Store St-Connolly-Mayor Sq) George's Dock Bridge reopened to one way eastbound traffic on 21 January.

Area 17 (Mayor Sq-Point Depot) All the permanent piling for the abutments and centre pier of the Royal Canal Bridge at Spencer Dock has been completed, as has sheet piling for a centre cofferdam in the middle of the canal. Construction of the bridge abutments has begun. A concrete pile cap and the centre pier of the bridge will be constructed within the cofferdam.

Line D (City Centre-Broombridge) The Minister has asked the RPA to consider an extension of the line beyond Broombridge to connect with Metro West, either in the Finglas or Meakstown area. The RPA intends to apply for a railway order for Line D during 2009.

Line E (Dundrum-Harold’s Cross-City Centre) Following a request from the Minister for Transport, the RPA undertook a feasibility study into the provision of a light rail line linking Dundrum to the city centre via Rathfarnham, Terenure and Harold’s Cross - Line E of the Luas system. The results of this study were published on 2 May and the RPA commenced the distribution of a letter to local residents and businesses detailing the route, which had been selected as the focus of the study. This was a 9.8-km alignment running from Broadstone via King St North, O'Donovan Rossa Bridge, Christchurch, Harold’s Cross, Terenure, Rathfarnham Rd and Nutgrove Ave to terminate on Churchtown Rd at The Oaks, where an interchange with the Green Line would be facilitated.

The study found that development of a line would have considerable adverse impacts. There would be considerable impact on other road traffic, while substantial property acquisition involving approximately 10 buildings and 150 gardens would be required. The section between Broadstone and Christchurch presented a number of engineering difficulties including the structural insufficiency of O’Donovan Rossa Bridge and the gradient of Winetavern Street. For this reason the study concluded that the northern terminus of the line should be at Christchurch. The line would also fall short of covering its operating costs by approx €2m per year.

Line F (Lucan-City Centre) The public consultation process for the planned Line F to Lucan saw in excess of 2,300 submissions being received by the RPA. These have raised complex issues in relation to the course of the line, the largest of which is how to reconcile the competing demands for it to serve both Lucan village and the large residential areas to the south of the N4 road corridor. Issues have also been raised in respect of other areas in the city, including Ballyfermot, Inchicore and The Coombe.

It is planned to use 53m long trams from the outset and to accommodate these, platforms will be approximately 65m long. The journey time from Lucan to the city centre will be about 43 minutes.

Line F is to be provided under a Public Private Partnership. Completion of the line is scheduled for 2013, subject to the successful obtaining of a Railway Order.

STOCK

Modifications By mid-April just two trams, 3015 and 3020, remained to be lengthened.

Originally fleet numbers were applied in two places on the exterior of the vehicles, above the near-side cab side-windows. A number of vehicles have received additional fleet numbers on the off-side, again above the cab side-windows. Fleet numbers are also being applied in passenger area of trams. They are placed on the partitions over the doors leading to the drivers’ cabs.

TENDERS

Infrastructure Maintenance The RPA has sought tenders for the maintenance of the Luas infrastructure for a period of 5 years, with options to extend the contract for a further 5 years. In addition to the maintenance of tracks and stop infrastructure, the contract awarded may also include maintenance of associated systems, utilities, services and structures.

Planned maintenance under the contract will be performed in accordance with an agreed 10-year maintenance plan and will take into account the life cycle stages of the assets and may include replacements or overhauls. In addition to availability standards, a particular emphasis will also put on cleaning and landscaping functions.

FARES

Fare increases, which are expected to increase revenue by over 4%, came into force across the Luas system on 7 January. Adult single and return fares increased by 10c, while the cost of 7-day and 30-day tickets for adults and students rose by between 30c and €2.

For the third year in succession there have been no increases to the cost of child and Smartcard fares. Adult passengers using Smartcards now save an average of 30c (17%) per trip, compared to the cost of single tickets.

DUNDRUM DEVELOPMENT

The RPA, in association with Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Co Co, has placed a 0.5 hectare site at Dundrum on the property market. The site consists largely of RPA-owned lands between the Luas line and Taney Rd, but also includes DLRCC lands under the southern end of the William Dargan cable-stayed bridge. The 170m² former Dundrum station building is also included in the site, as are the air-rights over the Luas stop.

VEOLIA (LUAS)

PASSENGERS

The total number of passenger journeys on the Luas system in 2007 was 28.4m, an increase of 10% over 2006. This equates to approximately 1.2m passengers per km per annum, which, by European standards, is exceptionally high. By comparison, the DART carries about 500,000 passengers per km.

On the Green Line, journeys increased to 12.6m (+4%), while on the Red Line they grew to 15.8m (+15%). The exceptionally strong performance of the Red Line was due the successful rollout of the €40.7m tram extension programme. The busiest day to date on the full Luas system was Friday 21 December when 145,000 passenger journeys were recorded.

MISCELLANEOUS

14 February The drunken antics of a 16-year old teenager caused severe disruption to services on the Red Line. His actions included hanging from the front and rear windscreen wipers of trams. As a result of the delays to services, a number of passengers missed connections with InterCity services at Connolly. The boy was charged at a sitting of the Dublin Children's Court with several offences, including being intoxicated to such an extent that he was a danger to himself and others and for engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour. Judge Ryan set a bail condition on the defendant banning him from loitering at Luas stops or on trams.

23 February Separate investigations were launched by the Gardaí and Veolia Transport into the death of a man following an accident involving a Red Line tram. The incident, which took place at 19:40, occurred between the Hospital and Tallaght stops on Cookstown Way and involved an outbound tram. The man was taken to Tallaght Hospital where he died the following morning. This was the first fatality resulting from an accident involving a tram since they began operating in 2004.

This was the second serious accident involving pedestrians in the Tallaght area in recent months. In December 2007 a man was critically injured when he was hit by tram close to the Red Line's Kingswood stop.

18 April Services on the Red line were disrupted for about 90 minutes after a man parked his car across the tram tracks at the Heuston stop before jumping into the Liffey. The emergency services rescued the man.

Copyright © 2008 by Irish Railway Record Society Limited
Revised: March 04, 2010 .