Luas and DART: the basics

Luas is the tram. The Red Line runs east–west from The Point in the Docklands and Connolly Station through Abbey Street, Jervis and Heuston Station out to Tallaght and Saggart. The Green Line runs north–south from Broombridge through Parnell, O'Connell Upper, Dawson and St Stephen's Green down to Sandyford, Cherrywood and Brides Glen.

The two lines cross in the city centre — change on foot between Abbey Street (Red) and O'Connell Upper or Marlborough (Green). Trams run from about 5:30 to 0:30, every 3–10 minutes in the day.

DART is the electric suburban train along Dublin Bay, from Malahide and Howth in the north through Connolly, Tara Street and Pearse to Dún Laoghaire, Bray and Greystones in the south. It is the way to reach Howth, Dalkey, Killiney beach and Bray, with sea views most of the way.

Commuter trains from Connolly, Pearse and Heuston extend further to Drogheda, Maynooth, Kildare and Wicklow; Heuston is the station for Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Kilkenny and Tralee, Connolly for Sligo, Belfast and Wexford.

The Leap Card works on both: tap on and off at the platform validators on Luas and at the gates on DART. Single paper tickets are sold at the machines on every Luas stop and in the stations, but cost more than Leap. Luas has fare zones based on distance; DART fares depend on the stations.

With a Leap Card the 90-minute fare covers a change from bus to Luas or DART within Dublin, so a bus to the tram or the train counts as one trip. Current prices are on the Dublin “Tickets & fares” page.