How the promised 22-minute Luas journey compares: Four Irish Times writers tried alternative means of transport to see how they compared with the time it takes the Luas to travel the distance between Sandyford and St Stephen's Green.
Car: 50 minutes
There were no cars in the car-parks at the Luas stations, apart from those of a few journalists and officials. Almost all the primary schools had finished on Tuesday, and there was no school traffic. So yesterday around Sandyford Industrial Estate was probably unusually quiet.
At 8.30 a.m. I pulled out of the car-park beside the Luas terminus in Sandyford Industrial Estate. Séamus Brennan was on Morning Ireland saying if he had a clean sheet he would not start from where we now are with the Luas at all.
The one-way system brought cars around a block of road way and past the next Luas stop, at Stillorgan Industrial Park. Traffic was flowing smoothly, most of it travelling the other way into Sandyford Industrial Estate.
Sandyford Road was clear, and I arrived in Dundrum village at 8.40 a.m. A 48A bus was in front on the narrow Dundrum Road, where there is no room for a bus lane or for overtaking, so it was 8.50 a.m. when I reached the bridge linking it to Milltown Road.
Both Milltown Road and Sandford Road into Ranelagh were busy, but the traffic was moving. It was just 9 a.m. and Hugh Leonard was winding up Morning Ireland reading from the chapter in Home Before Dark, where he describes the last journey of the Dalkey Tram, when I reached Birchall's in Ranelagh.
I reached the top of Harcourt Street at 9.11 a.m., where the traffic was crawling in single file. The lights at the corner of St Stephen's Green seemed to have a preference for red in this direction, with only a few green interruptions. It took nine minutes to travel from the top of Harcourt Street to the corner of St Stephen's Green, arriving at 9.20 a.m. But for the motorist, now the real challenge begins - finding somewhere to park in the vicinity of St Stephen's Green at 9.20 a.m. - Carol Coulter
Bus: 53 minutes
Unpredictability is one of the joys of travelling by Dublin Bus. In Sandyford Village, there is no timetable at the bus stop, so you have to estimate for yourself when the 44 is due.
Mine arrived at 8.20 a.m. (it was the 08.10 a.m. from Ballyogan) - a lucky break as it was starting to rain, and there was no shelter at the stop.
The fare into St Stephen's Green was €1.65 - not bad value if you get a clear run, as we did yesterday morning. Sandyford Road, a bottleneck during school term, was traffic free, allowing us to reach Dundrum Village by 8.28 a.m.
As we passed under the Luas bridge traffic remained light, and we reached Milltown by 8.40 a.m. At the junction of Milltown Road and Sandford Road, we hit our first hold-up; it took almost four minutes to round the corner. At 8.53 a.m. we passed under the Luas line at Ranelagh.
Until now we had been travelling with the rest of the traffic, but at Charlemont Street we got to enjoy our first bus lane - all 30 metres of it. Using it, our bus successfully overtook three cars.
On some days, it takes the bus 10 minutes to round Harcourt Road and Camden Street Lower, but yesterday we had a clear run. At 9 a.m. we pulled into the stop opposite the Bleeding Horse Pub. There followed the biggest bottleneck on the route: Harcourt Street. Here we crossed the path of the Luas a third time - the first transversal at street level. Harcourt Street itself was completely jammed with traffic. With three buses stuck in the middle of it, our driver diverted on to Leeson Street via Hatch Street. We hit St Stephen's Green South at 9.06 a.m., filtering onto another short bus lane - this one completely clogged up with taxis and coaches. We reached the bus stop on St Stephen's Green North at 9.13 a.m. The journey time of 53 minutes was good for this route - during school term it can take up to 30 minutes longer. - Joe Humphreys
Bicycle: 34 minutes and wet
The skies began to darken shortly before 8.30 a.m. and within minutes the heavens had opened. The neatly tarmaced new road around the Luas depot in Sandyford Industrial Estate became a minefield of black puddles, while passing vehicles mutated into weapons of mass saturation. As I splashed my way down Sandyford Road at 8.35 a.m. my raincoat began to leak water and my trousers began to stick to my legs.
The downward gradient of Clonskeagh Road made cycling easier, although the satisfaction was lessened by the squelching noise coming from my shoes. At 8.42 a.m. traffic was snarled up all along Sandford Road, near Milltown, but I glided onwards towards the city-centre.
It continued to pour down. Despite my raingear, all my clothes were wringing wet as I crossed the canal on to Charlemont Street. I swerved onto a footpath near the Bleeding Horse when an articulated lorry took over the bicycle lane.
On Harcourt Street the traffic was at a standstill. Among the vehicles stuck in the jam was an open-topped Dublin tour bus which was empty, save for two disconsolate tourists downstairs taking shelter from the rain. I cycled down the empty Luas tracks, which is apparently dangerous and against the advice of traffic authorities, but enjoyable nonetheless. It was just before 9 a.m.
After waiting at the interminable red lights which face on to St Stephen's Green, I came to a halt at the top of Grafton Street, a saturated, sweating, and frustrated mess. It was 9.04 a.m. - Carl O'Brien
Motorbike: 20 Minutes.
I set off from the Luas Sandyford terminal. I adhered to the speed limits and the Rules of the Road. Traffic is heavy at this time of day - and it is not helped by unintelligent traffic lights giving priority to non-existent traffic.
It is not helped either by those car drivers who need an alarm call to let them know when the lights have gone green, nor by those clearly still wrapped up in hoggish slumber.
Nine minutes to RTÉ, 10 to Donnybrook Church. That crossroads and the adjacent Eglinton Road intersection are badly in need of some serious, objective "traffic engineering". By now conditions had changed from dry to wet. As I progressed towards St Stephen's Green the rain became heavier and heavier.
I reached the Green at 8.20 a.m. That's 20 minutes by motorcycle for the Terminus-to-Terminus time, as compared with the claimed 22 minutes for the Luas. - John Wheeler