After years of planning, confusion and controversy, Dubliners finally got a glimpse of the future of public transport in the capital when the first Luas tram went on display in Merrion Square yesterday.
Based on the length of the queue that formed after the brief opening ceremony, Mr Eamon Brady, the Luas information officer, said he expected that 10,000 people would have passed through the sleek, French-made vehicle by 8 p.m.
"The queue is just huge. People are delighted by the opportunity to see it. And from the comments we've been hearing, people love the sleek lines of the vehicle, its airiness and upholstery. They're saying it should be put into service as fast as possible."
Despite claims by Opposition parties that its unveiling by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, was a "political stunt", Mr Brady insisted that the Luas project team was fulfilling a long-standing commitment to the people of Dublin.
"Throughout the public consultation period, we said we would put a tram on public display as soon as we got a chance," he said, adding that Merrion Square West - which will not be served by Luas - was "the only place we could get".
Smithfield, which will be one of the stops between Tallaght and Connolly Station, was not available because of the traditional horse fair, and other locations such as St Stephen's Green were ruled out because of disruption to traffic.
Mr Donal Mangan, the Luas project director, told the crowd that the biggest difficulty his team had faced throughout the lengthy public consultation period was to explain to people what the trams would look like.
In her short speech, Ms O'Rourke noted that trams were "taken away from the people of Dublin 50 years ago". But now, they were coming back.
Inviting everyone to inspect the vehicle, she said: "It's your tram, your public transport system."
The 30-metre tram, built by Alstom in La Rochelle, on the west coast of France, is the first of a fleet of 40 which will run on the Luas lines serving Tallaght and Sandyford.
Trams on the Sandyford-St Stephen's Green line will be 40 metres long.
Mr Padraig White, chairman of the Light Rail Action/Advisory Group, said the £330 million project was "pretty well on schedule against all odds".
He also strongly endorsed the decision to put the tram on display to show progress was being made.
Mr John Henry, director of the Dublin Transportation Office, described the event as "another milestone".
Though the same tram had been shown at a transport exhibition in London last June, he had only seen the pictures.
"It's great," he said.
As for the other elements of the DTO's £8 billion transport plan, including a proposed metro, Mr Henry conceded that it "may take a little bit longer to implement" because of the current economic downturn. But it was still "the only way to go".
It will be another two years before Luas is fully up and running. Alstom is due to deliver two trams per quarter, starting in January, and the Luas project team expects to be testing them on a section of track near its Red Cow depot "from early 2002".
