The commencement of passenger services on the Luas Cross City, the extension of the Green Line through the City Centre to Broombridge, took place on Saturday.

The extended section of the Green Line runs from St Stephen’s Green in the city centre to Broombridge on Dublin’s northside. The Luas Green Line previously brought passengers from Brides Glen as far as St Stephen’s Green, but now there will be services to 13 new stops north of St Stephen’s Green, including eight in the city centre area.

The Luas Cross City construction project started in June 2013 and has delivered 5.9km of track with 13 new Luas stops taking Luas through the city centre and north to Broombridge. The Luas Cross City line will now become part of the Luas Green Line.  
  
Construction works for Luas Cross City were carried out by a joint venture between John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd, a provider of construction services with extensive operations across Ireland, the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, and Steconfer, a Portuguese based global railway construction company. It is estimated that since January 2015 nearly 3,400 people have been involved in the project with a peak of almost 600 in March 2017. 
  
It is hoped the extended line will increase the number of Luas journeys taken every year by several million while easing congestion and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
  
Speaking on Saturday, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar said, "Today is a significant milestone in the creation of a high quality integrated public transport network in our capital city. We expect the Luas Cross City will encourage more people to use public transport, as well as alleviating congestion and reducing our carbon footprint. It is also a symbol of what can be done even in tough times. We built Luas Cross City during some of our darkest years economically. Imagine what we can do now that our economy is strong."

Source: www.businessworld.ie