Accidents

Within hours of starting service, a Luas tram had collided with a car on Harcourt Street, while near-collisions were an occasional problem as of August 2004. A second collision with a car was reported on the Red Line at the end of August 2004, which at the time was undergoing final testing prior to the public launch due at the end of September 2004. September 2004 also witnessed the first collision between two Luas trams, at the crossover at the St. Stephens Green terminus. Derailments are not uncommon, two having been reported on the Green Line in the two months after opening.

A few days before Christmas 2005 my mother and myself decided to try the new Luas system by traveling from the city centre to Tallaght Shopping Centre. On the return journey I was traveling with my back to the driver ... my mother said to me that we were traveling too fast and that we were going to crash .... I said "don't be silly, we are not going to crash" ... she responded by saying "I am stating a fact not an opinion" and then there was a very loud crash.

The really amazing thing was that within five minutes an old woman appeared at the railings (at the left hand side of the photograph) with a cup of tea for everyone on the tram, she must have been sitting there waiting for an accident to happen.