Trial runs of Luas trams over two slip roads at the M50's congested Red Cow interchange will start after Christmas, according to the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA).
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said yesterday he had asked the Luas contractors to start trial runs as soon as possible "to give us a better feel for how it would work".
He had earlier canvassed the idea of raising the Luas line on stilts over the roundabout to avoid conflicts with other traffic. However, he was told by the RPA that this would cost an extra €50 million and take at least 15 months to complete.
The Minister was speaking after the first Luas tram glided into Tallaght from its depot at the Red Cow on a trial run to test such parameters as track gauge, contact with overhead power supply and clearance of poles, kerbs and oncoming trams.
RPA officials had been out since 7 a.m. to ensure that it worked without a hitch. Everyone was conscious that when the first Bombardier bus was launched two decades ago by the then transport minister, Mr Albert Reynolds, it wouldn't start.
Though the Tallaght terminus is still a building site, everything worked without a hitch as the first tram, ringing its warning bell, was led slowly towards the concrete platform by Mr Brennan and Cllr Máire Keane, the mayor of south Dublin.
They were accompanied by Mr Pádraig White, the RPA's chairman, who described the event as a "milestone" for Luas. Its arrival drew spontaneous applause from a small crowd of onlookers, who hopped on the tram as soon as it stopped.
Men, women and children sat in the "Dublin-themed" upholstered seats, as if they were trying out a new suite of furniture, and they all looked very pleased with it.
One man asked if he would be able to use his social welfare card to travel on Luas.
RPA officials stressed that this was a "slow speed test" in open road conditions - though gardaí had to man junctions as the traffic signals were not connected. Previously, the trams were tested on a short stretch of track near the Red Cow depot.
Mr Ger Hannon, the RPA's director of corporate affairs, said tests in the Red Cow/Naas Road section of the Tallaght line would start "in the early months of next year", after work to install its overhead power supply is fully completed.
"It will be great to see trams going across the Red Cow because seeing is believing," he said, referring to computer simulations by the Dublin Transportation Office which show that Luas would not aggravate congestion at the interchange.
The Railway Procurement Agency's chief executive, Mr Frank Allen, said this would be verified by the trial runs. The problem at the Red Cow was "primarily an issue of road congestion" and he was confident that Luas would help by "getting people out of their cars".
Mr Michael Sheedy, the Luas project director, confirmed that all of the Luas trams had been delivered by GEC Alsthom before the end of September and that services on the Tallaght-Connolly station line would open in July or August next year.
Speaking to the media, Mr Brennan reiterated his view that "once people see it \ running, they will love it and demand extensions here, there and everywhere". For Cllr Ardagh, its trial run yesterday represented "progress for Tallaght".
Mr Richard Dujardin, the French managing director of Connex Ireland, which will operate Luas under a franchise, was almost as happy to see the trams running as he was with the result of the Ireland-France rugby match.
"Everything is okay", he said.
