Luas - Heuston to City Center

MaceFace

Hi Guys,

Has anyone got the Luas yet from Heuston to the city center, or vice versa?

How long does it take?

Would you always take it now over the bus?
Much faster?

Will it get faster (i.e. when people take more notice, and cars stop parking on the tracks)?

How about connecting with the Dart?
Best to get out on Abbey Street and walk to Tara?

Any comments welcome, as I am considering switching over to using it, but don't know if it is quicker sticking with the bus.

Thanks.

Dave

You could always try it?

thejollyrodger

how much does it cost for hueston to the city center?

aodh_rua

It took it from Connolly to Heuston yesterday evening, and vice versa this morning. The trip takes 15 minutes - the slowest part being from the Four Courts onwards as the distance between stops decreases. The service is free until Sunday so the trams are pretty packed - so much so that they were letting half-empty trams leave Connolly yesterday rather than letting the queue board(really annoying as I was at the front of the queue and ended up missing a train because I'd to wait for the next one).

In terms of the bus versus Luas arguement - if the Luas lives up to its planned tram every 10 minutes (5 at peak) it'll beat the completely random timing of the 90 and 91's.

Lastly the price - if you're commuting on the train, a new type of weekly ticket will available from next week which includes the Luas. It'll be an extra euro or two over the current City Centre tickets.

MaceFace

Thanks.

I do plan on trying it, but obviously want to know if it is worth my while.

Couple more questions aodh_rua (or anyone else):

Can you board at Abbey Street (outside Wynnes hotel)?
How long were you queing for yesterday in Connolly?

I was thinking instead of going to Connolly, of getting off at Abbey Street and walking to Tara Street Station. That way, I won't have the trip from Abbey to Connolly (2 mins?), then the walk to the Dart platform, then the extra part of the Dart trip from Connolly to Tara.
Or am I completly wrong, and I should get it all the way to Connolly for connection with a Southbound Dart?

D8 boy

Hi MaceFace

Yes you can board at Abbey St (Wynne's Hotel). I noticed there were signs at this stop saying you can't board trams there TO Connolly, I guess that's a crowd control measure during the free trial.

I went to Connolly yesterday at 6 and was only waiting a few minutes. There were lots of carsh barriers but only a few dozen people. The tram filled up at the later stops.

If you are transferring from the Luas to soutbound DART it might indeed be quicker to alight at Abbey St and walk to Tara St. The junctions at Gardiner St and Amiens St were slow when I was travelling yesterday and it took about 5 minutes to reach Abbey St. Also the new stairs/escalators at the Connolly Luas stop are not yet in service so you have to walk around to Amiens St.

aodh_rua

Yeah - there were some delays at Amien and Gardiner St for my one too. One other thing to mention - the Busaras stop won't be in use until 4th October.

MaceFace

Thanks again.

Just one final question.

Can anyone confirm that the annual Surbuban Rail Commuter Ticket which is valid on the 90/91 is automatically valid on the Luas?

I have been told by Luas that this is the case, but the guy in Irish Rail said nothing has been agreed!

John R

I took it yesterday from Tallaght to Connolly.

Overall time was 55 minutes.
Heuston to Connolly was about 12 minutes.
This was without any cars blocking the junctions, the time taken to get a path at all the junctions took up alot of time.

I would say outside peak the 90/91 would be as quick or quicker, particularly outbound from O'connell Bridge. but Luas would be my choice in peak times.

MaceFace

Well, I got it this morning, and I have to say I am well impressed. When this thing is up and running normally, it will be very good.
From Heuston to Abbey Street took 15 mins. That was with a car on the line holding us up at one stage for about 3 mins.

Anyone else who is thinking of doing the same as me - you should get out at Abbey Street and walk to Tara - literally 5 minutes.

I only hope now my ticket covers the journey from next week.

Oh, tried to get it to Heuston last night, but there was large queues, and there was a crash at Capel Street, so ran for the bus instead.

enterprise

From next week when LUAS starts charging its customers, the current IE add on ticket for customers using the 90 / 90A / 91 bus will become a LUAS / BUS (90 / 90A / 91) add-on ticket.

There will be an increase in the add-on ticket as a result:

Weekly: €4.50.
Monthly: €17.50.

aodh_rua

Add-on ticket? What's that then - is it what you get if you can't buy a City Centre ticket?

enterprise

Wat I mean by add-on is as follows:

IE have a "city centre" destination on their ticket system. It is available for any type of ticket.

Single
Return
Weekly
Monthly
etc.

Before LUAS opened it was vaild on the 90 / 90A / 91 only into the city. Now with LUAS the add-on ticket will become vaild on LUAS as well, as a result of this the fares will change. The prices I quoted above are for weekly and monthly tickets, I do not now the new fares for single, return etc but its only about €2.00 extra return I should reckon.

MaceFace

Thanks for the info Enterprise.

What I am more interested in though is the annual ticket.

If I already have an annual ticket, will it be valid even though I have already paid for it?

I might just try it and see.

enterprise

Im not sure about the annual ticket, perhaps you should go to the travel centre in Abbey Street as they would (should!) have an idea.

DONT travel on the luas if you have not found this out - trust me Connex inspectors take no prisoners!

Victor

MaceFace wrote:

Can anyone confirm that the annual Surbuban Rail Commuter Ticket which is valid on the 90/91 is automatically valid on the Luas?

Possibly on hte Heuston-Connolly section, but check.

With the Green Line, Luas and Dublin Bus offered a special price for people wishing to upgrade from "Annual Bus" tickets to "Annual Bus & Luas" tickets. I imagine a similar thing will happen with rail.

Bee

Cars/Busses/Bikes& Pedestrians on the line highlight the idiocy of an on street tram system.

A metro would carry a multiple of the Luas with no delays

Bee

Yoda

Can I, in Westport, get a return ticket from Westport to Howth that will get me Westport > Heuston > Connoly (Luas) > Howth (DART) and back?

enterprise

Correct, you got it in one!

With the 90 bus to Connolly the ticket would say "vaild on feeder bus", so with Luas I would reckon it would say something along the lines of "Vaild on feeder bus / LUAS"

Yoda

The 90 and the Luas would be "feeder busses" between Heuston and Connolly, so I gather that the DART ticket would not be available from Westport. (Not that that's a problem.)

enterprise

IT IS!

You can get a ticket from any station on the network to another station and that includes DART stations.

So Westport - Howth is available.

Killarney - Bray is available.

etc etc.

Yoda

Cool. I will try it on Monday or Tuesday.

Flukey

I went from Tallaght to town yesterday and it got in in under 50 minutes.

Victor

enterprise wrote:

Killarney - Bray is available.

Bray is an Intercity station though

Yoda

The Iarnród Éireann site gives pretty dismal connection times.

Train. Dep Westport 07:10, arr Heuston 10:40.
Wait 40 minutes, then:
Bus. Dep Heuston 11:20, arr Connolly 12:05. (45 minutes from H to C?)
Wait 38 minutes, then:
DART. Dep Connolly 12:43, arr Howth 13:06. (Total journey time: 5:56)

I trust that the Luas will improve on this. I'll report back when I've done my journey.

Victor

Yoda wrote:

The Iarnród Éireann site gives pretty dismal connection times.

Yeah, those timetables leave extra time, to be sure, to be sure.

enterprise

From IE website:

General News

LUAS Red Line Ticketing by Commercial Dept

With effect from Monday 4th October 2004 Iarnród Éireann will introduce new ticketing and fares options for customers who wish to travel on the Bus route 90/91 and the new LUAS Red line between Heuston and Connolly and vice versa.
Intercity Customers

Intercity customers who wish to avail of the “add-on” from Heuston to the City Centre and Connolly Station or vice versa will now have the option of travelling either on the Dublin Bus route 90/91 services or on the new LUAS Red Line at the following heavily discounted “add-on” fares.
Ticket Category New “add-on” Price.
Adult Child
Singles 95c 50c
Returns € 1.90 €1.00
Weekly Season € 4.50 €2.50
Monthly Season €17.50 €9.00

DART
DART and Suburban rail customers who wish to travel as an “add-on” between Connolly Station, Dublin City Centre and Heuston or vice versa will have two new ticket/fare options to choose from:
1. Rail plus Feeder Bus Route 90 /91
This option is currently available to and from all DART stations and Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch/Celbridge and will continue to be available from these stations. These tickets will only be valid on Dublin Bus Route 90/91 and will NOT be valid for travel on LUAS Red Line.
2. Rail plus LUAS & Feeder Bus Routes 90/91
Customers travelling to and from all DART stations and Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch/Celbridge who wish to travel on either the new LUAS Red Line between Connolly, Dublin City Centre and Connolly Station and vice versa or Dublin Bus Routes 90/91 will be charged the following “add-on” prices to existing rail tickets.
Ticket Category New “add-on” Price.
Single Adult 95c
Return Adult €1.90
7 Day Rolling Adult €4.50

New Short Hop RAIL / LUAS tickets valid on LUAS Red and Green Lines.
The following new ticket types will be introduced with effect from Monday 4th October 2004. These new ticket types will be valid for unlimited travel in the Iarnród Éireann short hop zone (between Balbridggan, Maynooth, Kilcoole, Hazelhatch/Celbridge) and on entire LUAS Red and Green Line services. These RAIL/LUAS tickets will not be valid for travel on any Dublin Bus Service.
Ticket Category Retail Price
One Day (unlimited) € 7.50
Seven Day Rolling € 30.00
Monthly (Calendar month) €112.00
Weekly Student € 25.00
Monthly Student € 90.00

Annual Tickets RAIL/LUAS – DART and Suburban Short Hop Zone.
New Annual Rail / LUAS tickets for DART / Suburban have been introduced. If you require information on these tickets and the associated tax benefits please contact Mr. Ronan Murphy, Iarnród Éireann, Abbey Street at 7034639 or email ronan.murphy@irishrail.ie

enterprise

From IE website:

General News

LUAS Red Line Ticketing by Commercial Dept

With effect from Monday 4th October 2004 Iarnród Éireann will introduce new ticketing and fares options for customers who wish to travel on the Bus route 90/91 and the new LUAS Red line between Heuston and Connolly and vice versa.
Intercity Customers

Intercity customers who wish to avail of the “add-on” from Heuston to the City Centre and Connolly Station or vice versa will now have the option of travelling either on the Dublin Bus route 90/91 services or on the new LUAS Red Line at the following heavily discounted “add-on” fares.
Ticket Category New “add-on” Price.
Adult Child
Singles 95c 50c
Returns € 1.90 €1.00
Weekly Season € 4.50 €2.50
Monthly Season €17.50 €9.00

DART
DART and Suburban rail customers who wish to travel as an “add-on” between Connolly Station, Dublin City Centre and Heuston or vice versa will have two new ticket/fare options to choose from:
1. Rail plus Feeder Bus Route 90 /91
This option is currently available to and from all DART stations and Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch/Celbridge and will continue to be available from these stations. These tickets will only be valid on Dublin Bus Route 90/91 and will NOT be valid for travel on LUAS Red Line.
2. Rail plus LUAS & Feeder Bus Routes 90/91
Customers travelling to and from all DART stations and Cherry Orchard, Clondalkin, Hazelhatch/Celbridge who wish to travel on either the new LUAS Red Line between Connolly, Dublin City Centre and Connolly Station and vice versa or Dublin Bus Routes 90/91 will be charged the following “add-on” prices to existing rail tickets.

Ticket Category New “add-on” Price.
Single Adult 95c
Return Adult €1.90
7 Day Rolling Adult €4.50

New Short Hop RAIL / LUAS tickets valid on LUAS Red and Green Lines.
The following new ticket types will be introduced with effect from Monday 4th October 2004. These new ticket types will be valid for unlimited travel in the Iarnród Éireann short hop zone (between Balbridggan, Maynooth, Kilcoole, Hazelhatch/Celbridge) and on entire LUAS Red and Green Line services. These RAIL/LUAS tickets will not be valid for travel on any Dublin Bus Service.
Ticket Category Retail Price
One Day (unlimited) € 7.50
Seven Day Rolling € 30.00
Monthly (Calendar month) €112.00
Weekly Student € 25.00
Monthly Student € 90.00

Annual Tickets RAIL/LUAS – DART and Suburban Short Hop Zone.
New Annual Rail / LUAS tickets for DART / Suburban have been introduced. If you require information on these tickets and the associated tax benefits please contact Mr. Ronan Murphy, Iarnród Éireann, Abbey Street at 7034639 or email ronan.murphy@irishrail.ie

MaceFace

Cheers for the info Enterprise, but I am just getting more confused.

Here is what I know.
The LUAS stop at Heuston has a sign saying that city center add-ons are valid on the LUAS as well as the bus.
Connex customer help says the annual ticket is valid to connect to the city center.

The IE web site which you posted from again gives no real info. It says to contact Ronan Murphy at Irish Rail. No disrespect to the guy, but if he isn't ignoring mails, he replies with a question.
I have never got one decent reply from this guy. He should ask for help.

I just don;t know!

enterprise

I would say I have a good knowledge of the IE ticketing system, but with the annual ticket im not sure - I would reckon they have introduced (Dublin Bus / Connex did this as well) a facility where you can "upgrade" your annual ticket - Pay the difference between the old fare and the new fare (of course it would take into account how long more the ticket was vaild for).

I say just give the man a ring directly!