Hi,
I was one of the people involved in the Tram display at Merrion Square. I'd like to clarify a couple of points.
Merrion Square was chosen as the most appropriate place having taken into consideration factors such as public safety, traffic management and the physical delivery of the vehicle. This required a 40m long trailer, 50m track and a 50m platform and loading ramp. There was no other suitable location close to the city centre which minimised disruption. All this was carried out overnight and traffic was kept on the move apart from the Sunday when the road was closed for a few hours. There was no political motivation for the choice ( not that that prevented the media speculating that there was ). OK they got some milage out of it, so what ?
The main motivation for the event was to allow the public to actually see the Tram. OK its two years before its running but as its the first of Forty, and we had promised to display one as soon as we could, we felt it was worth doing. Despite the adverse publicity, which to some extent was anticipated, huge numbers came to see the vehicle and offered helpful comments and suggestions.
We plan to construct a prototype platform in the coming months so once again people can see whats coming and offer opinions.
The Red Cow depot is finished and there are actually huge amounts of works under way on both lines. Check out the web site for regular updates.
www.luas.ie
If anyones interested I'll try to update here from time to time.
Cheers,
JJ