![\"Luas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Luas.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA transport assessment for D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council shows the proposed line would run via UCD and Sandyford, creating a direct link between key residential, employment, and commercial hubs<\/p>\n
Luas tram (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
A proposed new Luas line connecting Dublin city centre to Bray<\/a> has emerged as the preferred option for the Dublin<\/a> Eastern Bypass corridor.<\/p>\n The development comes from a recent transport assessment commissioned by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council<\/a>, which marks a major departure from previous motorway proposals for south Dublin. Planners are now focusing on a public transport approach, with a Luas<\/a> extension emerging as the favoured option.<\/p>\n The planned route would pass through University College Dublin<\/a> (UCD) and Sandyford, establishing a direct connection between important residential, employment and commercial areas. Research from the assessment indicates that a Luas link via UCD could slash commuter journey times by over 50 per cent.<\/p>\n Cllr Conor Dowling, the Green Party representative for Blackrock, said: “For years, this corridor was tied to plans for a motorway into Dublin Bay, a proposal that simply doesn’t stand up in a climate crisis, and it wouldn’t solve the congestion it was designed to address. This study shows a Luas via UCD could cut journey times by up to 52%. With the land already protected, this is a project we can actually deliver.”<\/p>\n The results represent a decisive break from plans for previous motorway schemes through south Dublin, which included tunnelling under Booterstown Marsh. Instead, the assessment determines the corridor is most suitable for high-capacity public transport, with light rail showing the strongest results for journey times, accessibility and network capacity.<\/p>\n Green Party transport spokesperson Cllr Feljin Jose said the findings emphasise the importance of prioritising public transport over extra road capacity. He said: “You can’t solve congestion by building more roads.<\/p>\n “The evidence here is clear expanding road space does not resolve congestion in the long term. You solve it by giving people a fast, reliable alternative and that’s exactly what this Luas line will deliver.”<\/p>\n The preferred option would involve a Luas line running from the city centre along the N11 corridor to UCD, before joining the Bypass lands and continuing to Sandyford<\/a> and on to Bray. “A Luas line serving UCD, Sandyford and Bray would provide the level of capacity and reliability needed for a growing city,” Cllr Dowling added.<\/p>\n “The priority now is to move this forward.” The study also highlights the potential for parallel walking and cycling infrastructure along the corridor.<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from Dublin Live? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Dublin Live as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A transport assessment for D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council shows the proposed line would run via UCD and Sandyford,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":363868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5981,112700,16089,61,60,14350,43,69796,31418],"class_list":["post-363867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-bray","tag-dun-laoighaire-rathdown-county-council","tag-dun-laoghaire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-luas","tag-news","tag-sandyford","tag-university-college-dublin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=363867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/363868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}