Luas services on the Red line have been severely disrupted after a tram was derailed following a collision with a truck close to the stop at Smithfield. The Fire Brigade and Paramedics attended the scene but fortunately only one minor injury was reported.
The collision happened shortly before 0845 on Monday 30th March and was at the junction of Benburb Street and Queen Street. Usually at this time of day the trams would be crowded but with Coronavirus restrictions in place it is fortunate that there were only very few people on board as otherwise there would likely to have been more injuries.
The tram – a five section Citadis vehicle – suffered serious damage to one end with the lower panelling removed and the windscreen broken. This section was also derailed completely from the rails with the next two sections also leaving the rails. Because of the impact the first section was at a severe angle meaning that the rear of it struck an adjacent bar as well as blocking the track heading the other way.
Whilst work was underway to rerail the tram and return it to depot services on the Red line were disrupted with trams running between Tallaght/Saggart and Blackhorse only. No trams were running between Blackhorse and The Point. Ticket acceptance was available on Dublin Bus. As part of the clean-up operation one end section has to be separated from the rest of the tram and was then pushed back to depot in this condition.
Photos of the aftermath of the collision can be found on the Dublin Fire Brigate Twitter.