Back in May 1998 Garret FitzGerald pointed to a central flaw in the design of the Tallaght Luas line - the fact that it takes a dog-legged route to the city centre by running northwards and then east, instead of a much more direct route via Kimmage. Frank McDonald, Environment Editor, reports.
"Running it via . . . the Naas Road, through 2.5 kilometres almost totally devoid of dwellings, will add almost one-third to the journey time for the people of Tallaght, while depriving the population of Kimmage and part of Crumlin of access to rapid transit," he warned.
How right he was. Our journey yesterday from Connolly Station to Tallaght took 52 minutes - nine minutes longer than the target of 43 minutes set by the Rail Procurement Agency. We were held up at one junction, where the Long Mile Road joins the Naas Road, for a full five minutes.
The tented structure on the site of the ramp at Connolly Station is the only great flourish on the Tallaght line, just as the Luas bridge at Dundrum is the Sandyford line's architectural icon. The IFSC has also been opened up a little, though it has a new two-metre boundary wall topped by curiously twisted railings.
Escalators and stairs to the station concourse will make for an easy transfer from Luas to mainline trains, but those connecting with DART will have a long walk. A taxi rank has been provided alongside the Luas terminus and the trams will provide a faster link between Connolly and Heuston stations.
We leave for Tallaght at 11.11 a.m. The tram gets no priority around Busáras, so we're stuck at the traffic lights at the bottom of Gardiner Street for nearly two minutes. The driver must be careful along Lower Abbey Street because people are so used to it being one-way in the opposite direction.
There is a distance of 300-400 metres between stops in the city centre, compared to a kilometre or more further out. New developments are springing up along the route in places such as Mary's Abbey, but the site of Arran Quay Terrace where a dozen houses were demolished, is covered by weeds.
On Chancery Street, there is now only traffic access to the Bridewell and the courts. A Wicklow-registered BMW blocks the tram in the yellow-box junction with Church Street. But Luas will put Smithfield on the map as well as the National Museum at Collins Barracks, where it stops right outside.
The ornate 1821 bridge beside Heuston is now Luas-only, leading to a tram stop in front of the station. However, the planting of seven trees on its roadside bank is a mistake because they will obscure the floodlit facade of Sancton Wood's great Italianate "palazzo"dating from 1844.
The forecourt of old Dr Steevens's Hospital, headquarters of the Eastern Health Authority, is strewn with litter and dead leaves. At the junction of James's Street, a palisade fenced derelict site recalls another Luas demolition and there is no indication when it will be developed.
The tram goes in right alongside the main entrance to St James's Hospital, then swerves round to the left, beside the striking new mortuary chapel, to follow its eastern boundary. There is grass between the tracks and this is continued on the bed of a filled-in branch of the Grand Canal.
All along Davitt Road the tramline is flanked by the canal, with its ducks and swans. New pedestrian bridges have been provided to make tram stops at Suir Road and Goldenbridge more accessible.
The tram runs west along the Naas Road, with single traffic lanes on either side. Its concrete bed, fringed by shrubbery, looks raw. Here, though, it picks up speed, travelling at up to 65 kph. We negotiate the Red Cow roundabout and pass over two of its slip roads in just 70 seconds.
Ahead is the Luas depot, with tracks running everywhere, and a vast park-and-ride site. Green swards with barely a house in sight lie further on. Then all along Belgard Road is the ludicrous wall insisted upon by residents of Kingswood Heights to screen them from Luas. It is now covered in graffiti.
Tallaght Hospital will be well served by Luas and there should be no shortage of patrons in Tallaght, where there are 11 tower cranes on the skyline, building apartments and offices.