Irish Railway Record Society

Journal 171 - LUAS

SYSTEM EXTENSIONS

Line A1 (Belgard-Citywest) The Minister for Transport visited Citywest on 23 September to view construction work on Line A1. This had progressed sufficiently to allow the laying of the first section of track through Citywest Business Campus. Construction of the Park+Ride facility was also underway.

The RPA has signed a contract with BAM Rail Ltd. for the construction of the junction between Line A1 and the existing Red Line at Cookstown, the building of the substations and the reconfiguration of Belgard Stop. The RPA is continuing with the selection of a contractor who will deliver equipment for stops, power supply, including the overhead line equipment (OHLE), and traffic signal works.

Area 19 (Belgard-Fortunestown) The outbound platform at Belgard is to be taken out of service from Monday 11 January until the summer of 2010 to facilitate the reconfiguration of the track layout and platform arrangements at the stop as part of the Citywest extension project. The inbound platform will remain in operation as normal throughout this period, although there will be some changes to the access routes to the stop.

Formation works, including site clearance, enabling, drainage, ducting and boundary works are nearing completion in this area. Construction of the track slab and track laying is well advanced between Fettercairn and Fortunestown Lane. The section of the N82 Citywest Road between Citywest Avenue and Fortunestown Lane was closed during September to facilitate construction of the line across the road. Platform works have commenced at the Cheeverstown and Citywest Campus stops.

Area 20 (Fortunestown-Saggart) Trackbed construction is well advanced to the entrance of Carrig Court and has commenced between there and Carrigmore Glen. The final section, to the terminus at Saggart is also well advanced.

Line B1 (Sandyford-Bride’s Glen) Approximately 95% of the track along the entire route is now installed, with only minor sections to be done. Significant progress has also been made with the erection of OHLE support poles along the line. It is expected that both these processes will be complete in early 2010 and that the installation of the overhead contact wires will begin at that stage.

Area 13 (Sandyford-Murphystown Rd) Platform construction works and track laying have been completed at the Sandyford stop. As the new platform track is only accessible from the Bride’s Glen extension, it will not be brought into use until the opening of that line.

Track laying has been completed from the M50 bridge to just south of where the alignment crosses the roadway leading to Glencairn House. The underground substation at Glencairn, which is located directly beneath the future Glencairn stop, has been completed. Track laying over the substation has commenced.

Area 14 (Murphystown Rd-Ballyogan Wood) Track laying, using ballasted track, has been completed from Glencairn stop to The Gallops stop. There is a trailing crossover immediately before The Gallops stop. The remainder of the line alongside Ballyogan Rd is laid using embedded track. Installation of stop furniture at The Gallops, Leopardstown Valley and Ballyogan Wood stops has commenced.

Area 15 (Ballyogan Wood-Bride’s Glen) The line from the end of the second M50 bridge to Brennanstown stop has been laid using ballasted track, except through the Racecourse and Carrickmines stops where there will be embedded track. Construction of these two stops is progressing well, as is the fit-out of the Carrickmines electrical substation.

During November, the RPA indicated that trams operating on Line B1 would not serve the proposed Brennanstown stop initially. Due to the non-completion of the road infrastructure and the number of empty apartments in the vicinity, the Agency felt that there would be insufficient demand to justify opening the stop and that any potential passengers would be unable to access the platforms. However, work on the construction of the stop will be completed to a stage that will allow it be brought into service once the area develops.

Immediately beyond the Brennanstown stop the line passes through the Spine Rd underpass which has been completed. The overhead contact wire will be supported by roof-mounted supports. Laughanstown Rd crossing is complete and awaiting installation of traffic signals. The imprinted concrete on the viaduct between Laughanstown and Bride's Glen is complete. Construction of Laughanstown, Cherrywood and Bride's Glen stops is progressing well.

Line C1 (Busáras/Connolly Station-Point Depot) Track laying in two short sections was completed by early September. Erection of the OHLE and construction works at the line’s 4 stops, George’s Dock, Mayor Sq/NCI, Spencer Dock and The Point, was also completed. Other works undertaken included reinstatement of kerbs and footpaths, installation of road traffic lights and street lighting and some drainage works.

Spencer Dock Bridge Spencer Dock bridge, which carries Line C1 across the Royal Canal, won the Best Structural Design prize at the Leading European Architects Forum (LEAF) awards ceremony in Berlin on 4 September. The awards are made to those who “have made an outstanding contribution to the world of architectural design” and for buildings that set benchmarks.

Trial Running In preparation for the start of trial running, a gauging trial was operated between Connolly and The Point stops on Sunday 13 September. Two trams, 3025 running on the eastbound line and 3016 on the other line, were used in the trial which checked the alignment of the overhead line, clearances at platforms and the operation of induction loops at road crossings. No. 3025 was the first of the two trams to travel on to the new line, departing Connolly at 10:05. It was also the first to reach The Point terminus, arriving there at 12:02, where it was welcomed by Harry Crosbie, owner of the O₂ (formerly The Point Depot). Further, limited, trial trips along the line were undertaken in the following weeks.

From 16 November a more intensive pattern of test running along the line took place.

Docklands Opening The Minister for Transport officially opened the Docklands extension of the Red Line at lunchtime on 8 December. The ceremony took place in the National College of Ireland in Mayor Sq and was also attended by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Emer Costello, local representatives, residents from the area and industry representatives.

Three trams were parked at the Mayor Sq/NCI stop during the launch ceremony, 3024 and 3009 on the eastbound line and 3015 on the westbound line. After the Minister had ceremonially cut the ribbon to launch the service the first tram, 3024, departed from Mayor Sq/NCI at 14:34 and arrived at The Point at 14:38. After a short pause, it departed to Heuston. For the remainder of the day services operated between Heuston and The Point and from Connolly to Tallaght, with free travel being offered. Regular services began at 05:30 on 9 December, with trams operating Tallaght-The Point and Connolly-Heuston.

It is anticipated that the 1.5 km extension to the Red line, which cost €90m, will add 1.8m passenger journeys to the Luas system in 2010. Journey time between Tallaght and The Point is approximately 52 minutes.

Line F (City Centre-Lucan) While the overall route for the Line F remains unchanged, the RPA now propose that its construction will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase, referred to as F1, will run from the Newcastle Road in Lucan to a junction with the existing Red line at Blackhorse. As part of this phase a turnback siding is under consideration for the vicinity of the Fatima stop. Services could continue over the Red Line to Connolly or The Point, or could reverse at Fatima. Phase 2, F2, would see the construction of the section from Thomas St to College Green. In October the RPA published the Final Draft EIS Scoping Report for Line F1.

STOCK

New Trams Delivery of Type 402 trams to Sandyford continues a pace:

Nos. 5001 and 5002 entered passenger service on 23 September. These were followed by 5003/04/05 on 29 September, 5007/08 on 24 October, 5009 on 2 November, 5010 on 25 November and 5011 on 24 December.

4000-Class Trams With the introduction of 5000-class trams into service on the Green line, the transfer of the 14 4000-class vehicles to the Red Line has begun. By the end of the year seven of the fleet were based at the Red Cow depot. Red Line tram 3011, which had been operating on the Green Line to provide additional capacity, had also been transferred back to its original base.

Unilok A Unilok shunter (No. 4019 of 2009) has been acquired for use at Red Cow depot.

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