THE €150 million extension of the Luas Red Line to Citywest and Saggart in west Dublin will be opened at noon today by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar.
The new line, to be known as Luas Citywest, is a 4.2km (2.6 mile) link from the Point to Tallaght line at Belgard station, with five new stops at Fettercairn, Cheeverstown, Citywest, Fortunestown and Saggart, close to the border with Co Kildare.
The extension is expected to add two million passenger journeys to the Red Line, bringing journeys on both Luas lines to a record high of almost 30 million a year.
The Railway Procurement Agency said the running time from Saggart to the city centre would be about 55 minutes, with a frequency of 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.
Passengers can travel for free on any part of the Red Line from noon for the rest of today.
The line has been developed as a public-private partnership between the State and Citywest Luas Limited, a group of local landowners and businesses comprising Davy Hickey Properties, Harcourt Development Ltd, and HSS (Mansfield Group). The consortium has provided about 55 per cent of the €150 million cost of the line.
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.
However, the agency has 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 journey numbers close to 30 million in 2011.
