The Luas Light Rail System

Luas in Irish literally means ‘speed.’ The Luas is currently made up of two unconnected lines which service the south side of Dublin, the Green line and the Red line. While the major road works that had to be undertaken on busy roadways where a hassle, there is no doubt that now the Luas has arrived, it has improved the transportation system in Dublin and it is estimated that 60,000 people use the system each day.
The Red and Green Lines are separate lines with no central point for inter connection. The Red Line starts at Connelly Station while the Red Line starts at St Stephens Green.

- Green Line
The Green Line opened on 30th June 2004 with free fares offered for the first five days in order to get people used to traveling on the new system. The Green Line has stops at the following locations: Connolly, Abbey Street, Jervis, The Four Courts, Smithfield, Museum, Heuston, James’s, Fatima, Rialto, Suir Road, Goldenbridge, Drimnagh, Blackhorse, Bluebell, Kylemore, Red Cow, KIngswood, Belgard, Cookstown, Hospital, Tallaght.
- Red Line
The Red Line opened on 28th September 2004, and while it was nearly a month behind schedule. The Red Line has stops at the following locations: St Stephen’s Green, Harcourt, Charlemont, Ranelagh, Beechwood, Cowper, Milltown, Windy Arbour, Dundrum, Bafally, Klmacud, Stillorgan and Sandyford.

The trains were made by Alstom and can reach a top spped of 70 km/h on sections of the line that are free from pedestrians and vehicular traffic while the trains run at much slower speeds in the city center. The Red Line trams are 30m long and have a capacity of 235 people which the Green Line trams are 40m long and have a capacity of 358 people. The stations that the lines currently stop at are 50m long to cater for future expansion, expansion that is now needed, two years after the opening of the Luas.