Luas Green Line
Tram · street-running light rail · 35 stops · Brides Glen – Broombridge
About the Luas Green Line
The Luas Green Line is a tram. It runs on the street through the city centre and then along the old Harcourt Street railway alignment to the south-east; it is not a metro and none of it is underground.
The Green Line is the north–south half of Dublin’s tram system, 35 stops from Broombridge in the north-west, across the Liffey and through the city centre, out to Brides Glen beyond Cherrywood. Most of the southern half runs on the alignment of the old Harcourt Street railway, which is why it feels less like a tramway and more like a light railway once it clears Charlemont. The full run takes 63 minutes. Through the city centre the line is a one-way pair, with trams in each direction using different streets and different stops, and at Broombridge it meets Iarnród Éireann’s Western Commuter services across the forecourt.
Stops on the Luas Green Line
35 stops in running order, 7 of them an interchange.
Broombridge to Brides Glen
Main route, 32 stops
One-way northbound: Westmoreland, O'Connell - GPO and O'Connell - Upper
Trams call here in one direction only; in the other direction use the paired stop a short walk away.
A ring on the dot marks a stop where you can change line, either on the spot or by a short walk to a separate station. The small name under each one is its official Irish name.
Timetable and frequency
| Day | First – last | Trams a day | Timetable date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon–Thu | 05:30 – 01:19 | 741 | 2026-11-18 |
| Friday | 05:30 – 01:19 | 741 | 2026-11-20 |
| Saturday | 06:30 – 01:19 | 270 | 2026-11-21 |
| Sunday | 07:00 – 00:19 | 155 | 2026-11-22 |
| Bank holiday | 07:00 – 00:19 | 155 | 2026-10-26 |
| Whole route | Scheduled time |
|---|---|
| Broombridge – Brides Glen | 63 min |
| Brides Glen – Broombridge | 63 min |
| Brides Glen – Parnell | 54 min |
First and last departure anywhere on the line, from the NTA’s published timetable for a representative week. Nothing on this line runs through the night.
How often trams run
| Time of day | Departures | Typical gap | Longest gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 07:00 | 7 | every 8 min | 20 min |
| Morning peak 07:00–10:00 | 59 | every 3 min | 6 min |
| Midday 10:00–16:00 | 134 | every 3 min | 7 min |
| Evening peak 16:00–19:00 | 78 | every 2 min | 6 min |
| Evening 19:00–22:00 | 80 | every 3 min | 8 min |
| After 22:00 | 8 | every 15 min | 15 min |
Departures in one direction at Beechwood, the busiest stop on the line, on a Monday to Thursday. Other stops are quieter; the branches are served by part of the service only.
Things to know before you travel
- Through the city centre the Green Line is a one-way pair. Southbound trams call at Parnell, Marlborough and Trinity; northbound trams call at Westmoreland, O’Connell – GPO and O’Connell – Upper. Marlborough and Trinity are southbound only; Westmoreland, O’Connell – GPO and O’Connell – Upper are northbound only.
- Some northbound trams finish at Parnell instead of running on to Broombridge.
Where you can change
In Dublin a change between tram and train is a walk along the street: the Luas stop and the railway station are different places with different names.
| Stop | Other lines here | On foot to |
|---|---|---|
| Broombridge | — | Broombridge (2 min walk) |
| Marlborough | — | Abbey Street (3 min walk); Tara Street (5 min walk) |
| Trinity | — | Tara Street (6 min walk) |
| Dawson | — | Dublin Pearse (7 min walk) |
| St. Stephen's Green | — | Dublin Pearse (11 min walk) |
| Westmoreland | — | Abbey Street (4 min walk) |
| O'Connell - GPO | — | Abbey Street (3 min walk) |
History
The Harcourt Street railway closed in 1958, but its trackbed was kept in case a use was found for it. That decision shaped everything: when the Green Line opened from St Stephen’s Green to Sandyford on 30 June 2004, it was largely running on the old formation. The fit is not exact. Between Harcourt and Charlemont the line swings east around buildings put up on the alignment between 1859 and 1959, so trams run along Adelaide Road instead of over the old bridge. South of Sandyford — a stop the railway called Stillorgan — it detours west around Leopardstown Racecourse before rejoining the original route just north of Carrickmines; the remains of the old Foxrock station still stand behind a housing estate nearby.
An extension to Brides Glen at Cherrywood opened on 16 October 2010. The northern half is newer and different in character: Luas Cross City, built from June 2013 and opened on 9 December 2017, carried the line from St Stephen’s Green over the Rosie Hackett Bridge and out along the old Midland Great Western Railway route past the former Broadstone works to Broombridge.
The service
The timetable has 741 tram trips on a Monday to Thursday, the first at 05:30 and the last at 01:19, with 270 on Saturday and 155 on Sunday. Midday and peak gaps at the busier stops run to two or three minutes. The important thing to understand is the city-centre one-way pair: trams heading south call at Parnell, Marlborough and Trinity, while trams heading north use Westmoreland, O’Connell – GPO and O’Connell – Upper. Some northbound trams finish at Parnell rather than running on to Broombridge. Saturday trams start at 06:30 and Sunday trams at 07:00, the same timetable being used on bank holidays. As of 2018 the line was close to its maximum capacity at peak times.
The trams and trains
Trams are stabled at two depots: the original works depot past the Sandyford terminus, opposite the old Stillorgan station building, which could hold 32 trams, and Hamilton Depot, built with the Cross City extension on part of the old Liffey Junction site and named after William Rowan Hamilton. Control for the whole system is at Red Cow on the other line — when storm damage hit that site in October 2017, neither Green Line depot could take over and the entire Luas stopped for two days. Notable structures include the William Dargan Bridge at Dundrum and the Nine Arches Bridge of 1854 over the Dodder.
Frequently asked questions
Because the Cross City section is a one-way pair on separate streets. Southbound trams call at Parnell, Marlborough and Trinity; northbound trams call at Westmoreland, O’Connell – GPO and O’Connell – Upper. Each of those stops serves one direction only, so the stop you need depends on which way you are going.
Much of it. The southern section reuses the Harcourt Street railway, closed in 1958 and deliberately preserved for future use, with detours around Adelaide Road and Leopardstown Racecourse where building had blocked the way. North of the city the Cross City section follows the former Midland Great Western Railway route past the old Broadstone site.
For the Red Line, at the city-centre crossing either side of Abbey Street — O’Connell – GPO and Marlborough are the stops to use. For Iarnród Éireann, at Broombridge, where the tram terminus faces the railway station across the forecourt; Sligo InterCity trains have also called there since 26 August 2024.