Luas

Luas
Luas tram in Dublin city centre
Overview
Locale	Dublin, Ireland
Transit type	Tram (or Light rail)
Number of lines	2 (Red and Green)
Number of stations	67
Daily ridership	c. 120,000 passengers[1]
Annual ridership	48.2 million passengers[2] (2023)
Website	luas.ie www.luasfinglas.ie (extension)
Operation
Began operation	30 June 2004; 20 years ago (2004-06-30)
Operator(s)	Transdev
Number of vehicles	40 Citadis 401 (4000 Class) 41 Citadis 502 (5000 Class)
Technical
System length	42.1 kilometres (26.2 mi)[3]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	750 V DC overhead line
Luas route map

Luas (pronounced /ˈluːəs/ [ˈl̪ˠuəsˠ]; Irish for "speed") is a tram system in Dublin, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line which opened on 26 September 2004. Since then, the red line has been extended and split into different branches further out of the city and the green line has been extended north and south as a single line. Since the northern extension of the green line in 2017, the two lines intersect in the city centre. The system now has 67 stops and 42.5 kilometres (26.4 mi) of revenue track,^[3] which in 2023 carried 48.2 million passengers, an increase of 24% compared to 2022.^[4]

Luas is operated by Transdev, under tender from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). (Prior to the later RPA merger with the National Roads Authority to form TII, the tender was originally under the defunct Railway Procurement Agency jurisdiction). The Luas was a major part of the National Transport Authority's strategy (2000–2016).^[5] Four extensions to the initial Luas lines have been completed. Construction of a 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) extension of the Green line through the north city centre to Broombridge, which linked both Green and Red lines, began in June 2013 and opened to passengers in December 2017. This is the extension route previously known officially as BXD.^[6]