Abbey Street Luas stop
Luas Red Line · Sd. na Mainistreach
About Abbey Street
Until 2017 the two Luas lines did not meet. Abbey Street opened with the Red Line in 2004 and was then the closest point on it to St. Stephen’s Green, the Green Line’s terminus, more than a kilometre away on foot — two tram systems in one city with no connection between them. Luas Cross City closed that gap, and the Green Line’s two one-way tracks now cross the Red Line on either side of this stop.
The result is an interchange spread over three street corners and four platforms. Green Line trams call at Marlborough going one way and at O’Connell – GPO going the other, both a short walk away and signposted from these platforms, while the Red Line keeps to Abbey Street itself on two lanes reserved for trams between O’Connell Street and Marlborough Street. The stop has two edge platforms of different kinds: one is built into the pavement, the other is an island between the tracks and the single remaining lane of road traffic. In Irish it is Sráid na Mainistreach.
First and last trams from Abbey Street
Departures from this stop in the NTA’s published timetable for a representative week. A day type with no departures is shown as no service rather than filled in from another day.
From Abbey Street: Red Line towards Tallaght, about one tram every 3 minutes at the busiest times (317 departures on a weekday) and Red Line towards The Point, about one tram every 3 minutes at the busiest times (317 departures on a weekday).
Connections and interchange
- Marlborough — about 3 minutes on foot (walking time named by Iarnód Éireann). It is a separate stop, not another platform here.
- O’Connell – GPO — about 3 minutes on foot (walking time named by Iarnód Éireann). It is a separate stop, not another platform here.
- Westmoreland — about 4 minutes on foot (our estimate, 250 m in a straight line). It is a separate stop, not another platform here.
- Tara Street — about 4 minutes on foot (our estimate, 290 m in a straight line). It is a separate station, not another platform here.
Our estimate from the straight-line distance of 250 m, not a measured walking route.
Our estimate from the straight-line distance of 290 m, not a measured walking route.
Facilities
luas.ie publishes no facility list for individual Luas stops, so the only stop-level facts here are the Park & Ride and Cycle & Ride flags from the operator’s own stop data. Absence of a row is not evidence that something is missing.
What is near Abbey Street
This is the O’Connell Street shopping district, and the stop carries a mix of shoppers, theatre-goers and people changing between lines. The Abbey Theatre and the Peacock Theatre are both about 60 to 70 m away, the Daniel O’Connell monument 120 m, and the Spire of Dublin and the General Post Office roughly 180 m. O’Connell Bridge is some 160 m south and the Rosie Hackett Bridge 120 m. Liberty Hall stands at about 190 m, the Cúchulainn monument at 180 m and Talbot Mall at 200 m.
| Place | Straight-line distance from the stop |
|---|---|
| Samaritans | 60 m |
| Abbey Theatre | 60 m |
| Peacock Theatre | 70 m |
| Daniel O'Connell | 120 m |
| Rosie Hackett Bridge | 120 m |
| O'Connell Bridge | 160 m |
| Cúchulainn | 180 m |
| Spanish Civil War International Brigade (memorial) | 180 m |
Named places from OpenStreetMap within 400 m of the stop. The distance is a straight line, not a walking route.
Frequently asked questions
Because the Green Line runs through the city centre as a one-way pair of streets. The Red Line keeps the name Abbey Street, while the Green Line’s trams call at Marlborough in one direction and O’Connell – GPO in the other. The three stops sit around adjacent corners and work as a single four-platform interchange, with signs on the platforms pointing the way.
No. From 2004 the Red and Green Lines were entirely separate, and Abbey Street was merely the Red Line stop nearest the Green Line’s terminus at St. Stephen’s Green, over a kilometre’s walk away. They were only linked in 2017, when Luas Cross City carried the Green Line north across the Liffey.