Luas to be tested from Tallaght to Red Cow

The Railway Procurement Agency has said a "piece of history" will be made next Sunday when trams will be tested on a continuous section of the Tallaght to Red Cow Luas line.

The agency has also commented that it is "virtually finished" its work on the controversial Harcourt Street section of the Sandyford line, in Dublin city centre.

In a separate move, the agency has denied that it has paid out significant sums in compensation cases and asserted that it was "no soft touch" for the claims, which were in any case mostly the responsibility of its sub-contractors. The new testing, about which safety announcements are to appear in local and national newspapers this week, will involve trams making their longest journey yet, between the Square in Tallaght and Red Cow.

Overhead lines and underground cables will be live when the trams are running and the route will have junctions with vehicle traffic at a number of locations including the Belgard Road; the Old Belgard Road; Sylvan Drive at the entrance to Kingswood Heights; the Cookstown way entrance to the Cookstown Industrial Estate, the link road from Cookstown to Tallaght Square; the Tallaght Hospital road and the entrance to the Square.

Trams will travel excessively slowly, according the the agency, to ensure maximum safety and gardaí are expected to be in attendance at junctions said Mr Gerard Hannon of the railway agency.

Mr Hannon also said the vast bulk of the heavy construction work is now complete on both Luas lines.

"If you stand at the St Stephen's Green end of Harcourt Street and look back up the street you will see the Luas surface is complete along quite a lot of it. It is very well advanced as far as the Harcourt Hotel." When it was pointed out to Mr Hannon that metal barriers and hoardings were still in place and digging was still going on at a number of locations particularly outside the old Harcourt Street railway station, he replied that the areas were, however, "very well advanced".

He said he was confident that the road would be resurfaced before the line is complete.

In relation to Middle Abbey Street Mr Hannon revealed that as a concession to traders motorists would be allowed to park on tram lines during the busy pre-Christmas shopping period, and vehicles would be allowed to drive on finished sections of the Harcourt Street line, pending its completion.

When Luas is operational there will be one lane northwards on Harcourt Street travelling towards St Stephen's Green.

Referring to recent speculation that the agency was pro-actively settling claims against it, Mr Hannon said there was no rush to settle before cases got to court.

Maintaining that the agency had a good record of "small scale compensations for shrubs or fences" he said however, that it was "no soft touch". Most such claims would in any event be a matter for the contractors, he insisted.