Green Line (Luas)

The section south of St Stephen's Green makes significant re-use of the old Harcourt Street railway line while the northbound route of the newer Cross City section mainly re-uses the old Midland Great Western Railway line after skirting the former site of Broadstone railway works and station. Southern section Brian Cowen in Cherrywood at the inaugural ride of the extended Green Line, 2010 Between Harcourt Street and Charlemont, the Green Line takes a large loop east around buildings which did not exist between 1859 and 1959. As such, there is no train bridge on Adelaide Road for the current line, as there had been for the Harcourt Street Line, but rather the current line travels on Adelaide Road to Charlemont. The line then follows the old alignment of the Harcourt Street line from Charlemont station as far as Blackthorn Avenue where the line runs slightly south of the old line before reaching the current Sandyford stop (known as "Stillorgan" on the Harcourt Street line). After Sandyford the line detours over the Leopardstown Road/Brewery Road junction so as to run west around the Leopardstown Racecourse before rejoining the original alignment just north of Carrickmines. The Harcourt Street line had run around the eastern edge of the racecourse, via Silverpark. Remnants of the old Foxrock Station are visible at the back of The Hedgerows in Foxrock. The route deviation was seemingly intended to serve the new properties that would have been built during the "Celtic Tiger" boom, before the extension was open. After this detour around Leopardstown Racecourse, the current line runs roughly along the original alignment with some minor detours, particularly prevalent at Laughanstown. The line terminates a few yards south of the Harcour Street line alignment in the developing area of Cherrywood. There are some other cosmetic differences between the Harcourt Street Line and the current Green Line, such as the positioning of the Ranelagh stop. The location of Ranelagh on the former line was at the current Beechwood stop. The old Ranelagh stop, named Rathmines and Ranelagh, was the last stop on the old line before the train reached the city. Luas Cross City Luas Cross City (), formerly called Luas BXD, is an extension to the Green Line which runs from St. Stephen's Green to Broombridge railway station. Construction of Luas Cross City began in June 2013 and it opened on 9 December 2017. The Rosie Hackett Bridge carrying the new line over the river Liffey was opened on 20 May 2014. The new section begins at the former city centre terminus, St. Stephen's Green, crosses the Red Line near the Abbey stop, and continues northwards, terminating at Broombridge station. There it connects passengers using Iarnród Éireann InterCity services to Sligo (as of 26 August 2024) and commuter services to Maynooth and M3 Parkway. Stops }) dublinbikes Dublin Bus routes dublinbikes Technological University Dublin dublinbikes dublinbikes Dublin Connolly (walk ) Dublin Bus routes dublinbikes Many bus routes on College Green dublinbikes Dame Street Trinity College Parliament House Olympia Theatre dublinbikes dublinbikes Henry Street The Spire General Post Office Dublin Bus routes Trinity College Parliament House Olympia Theatre Dublin Bus routes dublinbikes Grafton Street Kildare Street Leinster House St. Ann's Church, Dawson Street Kerlin Gallery Mansion House Leinster House National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology National Library of Ireland Trinity College Dublin Grafton Street Gaiety Theatre Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland Dublin Castle and Chester Beatty Library Rathmines Leinster Cricket Club Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club Gonzaga College Go-Ahead Ireland routes Dublin Coach routes Go-Ahead Ireland routesLuas Park + Ride South County Business Park Go-Ahead Ireland routes Go-Ahead Ireland routes Bridges The line re-uses some existing bridges and viaducts and has had new bridges specially constructed. The new build William Dargan Bridge at Dundrum crosses the Slang River. The River Liffey is crossed by the new Rosie Hackett Bridge southbound and the existing O'Connell Bridge northbound. The River Dodder is crossed by the Nine Arches Bridge originally constructed for the Harcourt Street railway line in 1854. Depots The Green line initially was provisioned with a works depot just past the Sandyford terminus and opposite the old Stillorgan railway station building. The depot could stable 32 trams. When the Green line was extended to Broombridge a further depot was constructed over part of the old Liffey Junction site. It was named Hamilton Depot in honour of William Rowan Hamilton who developed the quaternion mathematical number system. The primary control facility for the Luas system for such functions as power and signalling lies at the Red line Luas depot at Red Cow. Following a storm damage incident in October 2017 at Red Cow it was found the depots at Broombridge and Sandyford were not able to take over the function and the whole Luas system was suspended for two days. ==Planned developments==