Track laying work for the Luas cross city line gets underway on Dublin's O'Connell Street this morning.

The work comes ahead of the extension of the morning and evening ban on cars travelling through College Green.

Drivers are already restricted in their use of the area by the bus gate at rush-hour in the morning and evening - that will be extended to cover 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday from next week.

The cross city Luas - which will cost about €368 million - is due for completion in 2017 and will connect the existing Green and Red lines.

It's all kicking off https://t.co/XF3vuzxMOL — Richard Chambers (@newschambers) August 4, 2015

Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe said the new link will handle an extra 10 million journeys every year, and called the project the "missing link" in the Luas system.

"While a project of this scale will inevitably involve some level of disruption, communication and co-operation between those responsible for the delivery of the project and stakeholders means that this is being kept to a minimum," he said.