Main Luas Cross City works start on O’Connell Street

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, visited O’Connell Street in Dublin for the start of the main Luas Cross City track laying works.

The beginning of this process marks a significant milestone in the €368M project which will link the Luas Red and Green lines and provide a further 10 million journeys per year once complete.

The contract for the main works encompasses all the necessary civil engineering works in preparation for the connection od the existing Luas Read and Green lines. These include track laying; the installation of new paving, drainage and ducting; the erection of Overhead Catenary System (OCS) poles and the fitting of building fixings; the creation of new stops and extending existing stops to prepare for the future larger sized trams; the construction of a new depot building, sanding shed and wash plant in Broombridge; and the rebuilding of a railway line in Broadstone railway cutting.

Mr Donohoe commented: ‘Since its inception in 2004, Luas has been a massive success. 2014 saw an additional 2.1 million journeys being taken between the Red and Green lines. The linking up of these two lines, through Luas Cross City, is expected to yield up to 10 million more journeys each year. This will create a Luas network for the first time which will add significantly to our public transport system’.

“I’m delighted to witness today the start of the main track laying works for Luas Cross City, which represents the ‘missing link’ in the creation of a Luas network for Dublin. I am also very pleased that the project is expected to come in on time and within budget. While a project of this scale will inevitably involve some level of disruption, communication and co-operation between those responsible for the delivery of the project and stakeholders means that this is being kept to a minimum.

“I am confident that the collaboration so far can and will be maintained so that the city continues to function effectively and remains open for business. This project will be hugely beneficial for Dublin, adding significantly to our public transport system and will build on the success we have seen so far where the existing Red and Green Luas lines are concerned.”

The proposed route reinstates a transport corridor in the northwest of the city centre along the former Broadstone railway cutting and provides increased access to the communities of Phibsborough and Cabra as well as the DIT campus facility at Grangegorman.

It is expected that Luas Cross City will provide greater access to the city area than at present, with frequent spaced stops and platforms integrated into the streetscape. Critically, it is envisaged that Luas Cross City will reduce traffic congestion within Dublin city centre.

The project also grants an opportunity to radically enhance Dublin city centre through attractive and sympathetic integration into the streetscape and revised traffic management with greater emphasis on sustainable transport.

The contract, which is being delivered by Sisk Steconfer Joint Venture, is due to be completed in late 2017.

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