Enabling works will begin next month on the 5.6km Cross City Line, which will run north from the existing Green Line terminus at St Stephen's Green, crossing the Red Line at the junction of O'Connel Street Upper and Abbey Street and serving the new Dublin Institute of Technology campus at Grangegorman before terminating at an interchange with Irish Rail's Broombridge station. The line will cross the River Liffey on a new bridge and a new depot will be constructed at Broombridge.
Preliminary construction will focus on filling in around 300 cellars along the route of the extension. Major construction works will commence in 2015 and commercial services will begin at the end of 2017.
The line will have 13 stations with a journey time of 24 minutes between Broombridge and St Stephen's Green, and is expected to boost Luas passenger numbers by around 8 million per year, a 25% increase over current levels.
