Luas line extension to open on July 2nd

THE EXTENSION of the Luas Red Line in west Tallaght is to open on July 2nd, the Railway Procurement Agency will announce today.

The new 4.2km (2.6-mile) section is expected to bring total passenger journeys on both Luas lines to a record high of almost 30 million in a full year.

The extension will leave the existing track at Belgard, and serve Fettercairn, Cheeverstown, Citywest, Fortunestown and Saggart, close to the border with Co Kildare. The agency said journey times from Saggart to the city centre will be about 55 minutes.

The cost of the route was €150 million, about 55 per cent of which is to be provided by private sector landowners in the area.

Frequency on the new extension is to be one tram every 10 minutes at peak times, while the frequency from the existing stops on the Tallaght branch is to be one every six minutes.

The agency said significant interest in the line had been expressed by the operators of the Citywest hotel complex, which regularly hosts events which feature attendances of more then 10,000.

Further significant interest in the new line had come from commuters from the Naas area, an agency spokesman said.

The number of passenger journeys on Luas rose each year from the opening in 2004 to 2008, when they reached 27.4 million. However, they dropped to 25.4 million in 2009 and it was feared they would fall further amid declining employment numbers.

But a spokesman confirmed figures for 2010 had risen to almost 27.5 million, setting a new record for the system. It is now hoped the Tallaght extension with its anticipated two million passengers may bring total numbers close to the 30 million mark in 2011.

According to the annual report for 2009, the latest available, the Luas system made a pretax profit of €2.3 million in 2009, down from €6.5 million a year earlier. An extension of the red line from Busáras to the O2 took place during 2009.

The new line is to incorporate a 312-space park-and-ride facility at Cheeverstown.