Up to 20,000 people are expected to use Dublin's Luas tram system on the first full day of paying customers, the Rail Procurement Authority (RPA) said this evening.
Fares came into operation this morning on the line between St Stephen's Green and Sandyford after five days of free travel marked the tram system's launch last week.
By last night, over 430,000 passengers had travelled free on the Luas, the company said.
A RPA spokesmen told ireland.comthat, based on this morning's rush hour passenger numbers, the company was hoping to have a final figure of around 20,000 which he said was well within the planners' estimates.
The spokesman said there had been a "steady flow of passengers all day" with no major delays.
He said there had been a problem with the vending machines accepting credit cards for about an hour and half this morning when the software failed.
He said the first few days would be a "learning curve" for both operators and passengers.
Trams started running at 5.30 a.m. this morning and will continue until 12.30 a.m. tonight.
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