https://twitter.com/GraemeMcQ/status/905368865596690433
DUBLIN’S NEW LUAS Cross City line has run into issues with traffic this week during the latest test runs, as trucks and delivery vans blocked the tracks.
Luas Cross City began morning and evening tests of the new tram service this week, which will run from Broombridge in Cabra to St Stephen’s Green.
Communications director of Luas Cross City, Gráinne Mackin, said that the tests were being run this week to “try to gauge the interaction of the Luas with other traffic”.
However, the tests were interrupted due to parked vans and vans along the tram lines.
“We weren’t surprised that we had run into a few parked cars or parked vans because when the tracks were being constructed there was no tram activity. They were essentially a vacant space,” Mackin said.
From next Monday, 11 September, daily tests will begin every 15 to 20 minutes.
Mackin stressed that parking on tram lines is illegal. A number of warning notices have been placed on vehicles parked on the line this week.
“For the first day or two we appreciated that people would not be familiar with [the trams] but we’ve been giving people warnings. We’ve been putting notes on cars that are habitually parked or vans that are parked for any length of time,” she said.
From Monday, any vehicles parked on the Cross City line will be towed, as is standard on the Red Line and Green Line, according to Mackin.
“I think people will very quickly start seeing that these spaces are being used and it will become part of people’s awareness that you can’t park there,” she said.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce’s Graeme McQueen posted images of Twitter of delivery trucks parked on the Luas lines.
https://twitter.com/GraemeMcQ/status/905022645598650368
He said that it’s important to work towards making people aware that changes are happening within the city and that trams will begin operating full-time on the lines soon.
“I think we’ve all gotten used to the construction taking place and the works going on in the streets but the works are now finished in most areas and the testing is now picking up so there are dangers around that,” McQueen said.
Hopefully the message will get through that parking on Luas lines and obstructing the path of the Luas is a no go. What will really concentrate minds is when vehicles start getting towed away.
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