The Luas is no longer a teenager!
The light rail system, that carried 48 million passengers last year, turns 20 on Sunday.
In June 2004 there was just a shorter green line operating before the red line was introduced that September. There are now 67 stops, operated by 81 trams.
Paul Balmer famously drove the first tram through a giant screen on launch day in 2004;
"I'm now know as the guy from reeling in the years, so every time its on on RTÉ I get these little video clips from staff members and family members so it's my claim to fame...I'm here 21 years now and I'm still known as the reeling in the years guy."
1 in 4 people in Dublin now live within a kilometre of a luas stop.
It’s a running joke that the luas is free. But Dervla Brophy, Director of Communications with Transdev, says the majority of us cough up the fare;
"I put a wry smile on my face when I hear this because I'm probably going to shock people when I say this but we've actually done campaigns around the luas network which indicate that over 9 in 10 people pay the fare.
