Bertie gets close to Luasers

CHILDREN waved flags, local dignitaries jockeyed for position next to the Taoiseach, while tram spotters went weak at the knees, as the Red Line was finally given the green light early yesterday.

Two months after the opening of the Sandyford line, the thrill of riding the rails is still as potent as ever.

However, for the early risers in Tallaght hoping to hop on the inaugural tram journey to Connolly Station, it was not to be. Space was at a premium as the first tram quickly filled with the Taoiseach, the Transport Minister, local councillors and Luas top brass as well as a complement of the media.

The unfortunate Bertie Ahern quickly found himself shoe-horned between reporters and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, as the grilling about today's cabinet reshuffle reached fever pitch. But to hollers of "Who'll be getting off at the next stop, Taoiseach?," the nimble Bertie made a quick getaway at the Red Cow roundabout.

Earlier comparisons between the sleek silver tram and a sardine can were rehashed as the tram wound its way into the city centre.

However the Red Line's predicted 40,000 daily passengers won't be the sightseers of yesterday. In fact, Luas literature boasts that passengers will encounter "human life in all its busyness, its complexity, its energy and its variety".

Sitting next to you could be a culture-vulture heading for the National Museum at Collins Barracks, a shopaholic looking to empty their pockets in city centre shops, a grape-bearing well-wisher visiting Tallaght or St James's Hospitals or - if you are unlucky - a member of the criminal fraternity popping in for an appearance at the Four Courts.

Speaking at journey's end in Connolly Station, Transport Minister Seamus Brennan appealed to other road users to heed the new kid on the block.

"We ask the people of Dublin to enjoy their new transport infrastructure but also to take care and look out. One third of the entire 15km on the Red Line is shared with the street, so we'd ask motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and truck drivers to look out," he said.

Dublin Lord Mayor Michael Conaghan chose yesterday to promote his own 'Idiot's Guide to Public Tranport'. Brimming over with passion for trams, he started to confuse his 60s idols, wrongly attributing Simon and Garfunkel's iconic line "the future is written on the subway walls" to Bob Dylan - but then this was a man with a vision.

"I want to see Luas going to the Ballymuns, the Coolocks, the Finglases and the Ballyfermots of Dublin . . . to create a necklace of park and ride infrastructures . . . bring people free of charge into the city centre if necessary," he trilled.

While the Transport budget might not stretch to four more Luas lines, the Lord Mayor will have his last wish granted - but only until the end of the week when passengers must have a ticket to ride.