Sandyford line of Luas expected to open in June

As the first "live" safety and engineering tests between Dundrum and Ranelagh got under way yesterday, the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA) reaffirmed its commitment to open the Sandyford to Dublin line in June, to be followed by the Tallaght to Dublin route later..

The 40-metre trams on the Sandyford line, which each have a capacity for 310 people, will run from 5 a.m. and at five- minute intervals at peak times.

On the Tallaght line, the 30-metre trams, which have a capacity of 235 people, will also begin at 5 a.m. The last tram from Dublin on both lines will leave Dublin at midnight, although the RPA said "nightlink" arrangements were a possibility over Christmas.

Frequency will drop back to 10-minute intervals at off-peak times.

Over the next few months, as testing continues, the trams are set to become a familiar - an even striking - sight as they pass along the new cable-stay bridge at Taney junction in Dundrum and the Nine Arches Viaduct in Milltown.

A competition is to be set up by the RPA to find a name for the award-winning bridge. The Minister said the title "Seamus Brennan Bridge" had not occurred to him.

Yesterday's testing, which was observed by an invited group of dignitaries and local politicians, follows a similar ceremony in Dublin city centre in which the RPA celebrated the "last weld" in track-laying. The RPA indicated yesterday there would be "a few" more ceremonies before the line finally opens to the public.

Speaking as he watched the trams cross over Taney junction yesterday, the Minister, Mr Brennan, said fares on the trams would be "competitive". Responding to reports that the fares would exceed those available on the DART, he said the private operator selected to operate the system, Connex, would be keen to make the service attractive to commuters. "It might be a little more expensive but not a lot."

He said there would be 20,000 passengers a day on the Sandyford line, and he was "more confident now than I was six months ago" that the routes would open in June and August.

Referring to the disruption caused during construction, Mr Brennan said he was sure passengers "will forget the hard times".

Asked if the Government was as committed to infrastructure programmes in the regions, such as the reopening of the East Cork commuter rail service, the Minister said people must remember that Dublin "is their capital too".

He said as a Galway man who had come to live in Dublin he was aware of the need for infrastructural investment in the regions, and in that respect would be meeting campaigners for the reopening of the western rail corridor this Friday "to assess the case for reopening at least sections of that line".

The Sandyford line follows the path of the Harcourt Street line, which closed in 1958.

The journey time between Sandyford and St Stephen's Green is 22 minutes.