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RollingNews.ie

Longer Luas trams introduced this morning in bid to tackle overcrowding issues

A total of seven new longer trams are being introduced to Luas Cross City over the coming months.

IF YOU MADE a journey across Dublin’s city centre this morning, you may have noticed something unusual with the Luas Cross City – the new longer Luas tram made its maiden voyage through the peak time traffic.

A total of seven new longer trams are being introduced on a phased basis over the coming months, as Luas operator Transdev and Transport Infrastructure Ireland attempt to tackle the overcrowding issues on the new Luas Cross City green line. The overcrowding has seen many commuters unable to board the trams at peak times in the morning and evening.

The first 55 metre-long tram went into service this morning on an operational run. The tram ran from Brides Glen to Boombridge and back.

The other six longer trams will be introduced every few weeks over the coming months, once all trams are delivered in time.

A spokesperson for Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said that five of the seven longer trams should be in operation by the start of April, with the remaining two coming into service before May.

The Luas Cross City is a huge infrastructure project, one that took almost three years to complete. The first services began running in early December.

Since then, Luas commuters have faced a number of disruptions to their journeys as the TII try to work out signalling issues, which has caused continuous delays to the tram service.

When questioned about delays for people trying to get on packed Luas trams in mid-December, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said: “Teething difficulties are to be expected while the familiarisation process takes place.

“While it is welcomed that so many new customers are using the extended Green Line, it has meant that some trams are operating at capacity. This will be alleviated in the New Year when seven new 55 metre-long trams will be brought into service on this line.”

As only one longer tram was in operation this morning, it remains unclear if the extra capacity has helped with the overcrowding issues.

Read: Signal failure causes major traffic disruption during Luas Cross City’s first weekday

More: Passengers vent as Luas signalling issue causes delays on morning commute

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    Mute Neil Murphy
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    Jun 8th 2011, 3:36 PM

    Turned it off. Dangerous times. /Tinfoil Hat

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Enda Lee
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    Jun 8th 2011, 2:36 PM

    Started using it about 5 weeks ago. Its not very accurate but i wouldn’t be very concerned about data protection.

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    Mute Anthony O'Donnell
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    Jun 8th 2011, 3:09 PM

    Enda remember how Facebook started out small, look at monster its developed into. I would be concerned about the future implications of all this effort by Facebook to get you to part with as much info about yourself as possible.Its only a matter of time before they start dna sampling and micro chipping babies at the rate technology is taking over.

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    Mute Ryan Murphy
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    Jun 8th 2011, 6:56 PM

    If you retain the ability to untag yourself, I fail to see a problem.

    It’s also highly unlikely that an automated face recognition facility will be very effective, given the variations in image quality that are out there.

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    Mute OnlyMeWorld.com
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    Jun 8th 2011, 9:18 PM

    Don’t you think it’s funny our government can’t even obtain this kind of information about it’s citizens without a court order, but facebook and other social networking site have been given the latitude? Why not, for the government it’ll be like going to the library and avoid dealing with the ACLU, Lawsuits, etc., Wait is this the facebook that has like buttons all over the web and can track your whereabouts? Not the same facebook that bowed to china, and doesn’t allow it’s chinese users to talk about politics and religion is it? OnlyMeWorld.com the new alternative to facebook. No Real Names, No Email!

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    Mute Armands Adfghsdh
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    Jun 10th 2011, 2:45 PM

    You, my friend, are an idiot. Who wants to spend their time on website full of fake profiles? On facebook people provide their real name – you always know who you are talking with. Okay, I haven’t provided my real second name, but by name and pictures my friends still know who I am.
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    Mute Louise Bermingham
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    Jun 8th 2011, 5:03 PM

    (Bit of devils advocate here) is the flip side of the privacy argument that this will notify you of photos being posted up by people you don’t know, while your friends might think twice about posting embarrassing photos others might not. This way you know who has what of you.

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    Mute Brendan Walsh
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    Jun 8th 2011, 4:18 PM

    So what if your Tagged in a photo ,who cares switch face book off, go out side take a walk take up golf read a book or play a board game with friends or family .Facebook who says you have to even use it ,…How do the people in China live without it !

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    Mute Nigel Kenny
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    Jun 9th 2011, 8:45 AM

    China has it’s own popular social networking sites with content control.

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