New Luas extension to terminate at Fortunestown in west Dublin

The route of a 3.5km (2.2 mile) Luas extension to Fortunestown in west Dublin was announced by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen yesterday.

It was also revealed by the Department of Transport that the public inquiry for the Luas extension to Cherrywood will open on Monday next.

The Fortunestown project, a spur from the existing Luas Red Line between the Cookstown and Belgard stops, will be built in part by private sector companies and will be open to the public by 2008, according to the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA).

The private companies involved, property developers Davy Hickey and Harcourt Developments, are to provide the land and lay the track bed for the line, which will serve the suburbs of Cairnwood, Ambervale, Belgard, Fettercairn, Kilmartin, Cheeverstown, Brookfield, Ardmore and the business campus at Citywest. The terminus will be at Fortunestown Lane. Just four stops are envisaged - at Fettercairn, Cheeverstown, Citywest and Fortunestown.

The size of the private sector contribution is about €40 million.

Both the Fortunestown and Docklands extensions of the Luas are to be completed by 2008, with the Sandyford to Cherrywood extension two years later.

The public inquiry for the Cherrywood extension is to open in Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel in Killiney on Monday morning. However, a spokesman for the RPA said the inquiry, which is open to the public, is likely to adjourn for about a week after the RPA states its case.

Other Luas extensions planned include the city centre link between the two existing lines, which is to be completed by 2008; the city centre to Liffey Junction by 2012 and the city centre to Lucan by 2013. A further extension of the Sandyford-Cherrywood line to Bray in Co Wicklow is not expected to be completed until 2015.