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 Locomotive 206 passes Moira en route to Dublin Connolly | |
| Franchise | Not subject to franchising (1997 - present) |
|---|---|
| Operator | Iarnród Éireann/ Northern Ireland Railways |
| Main stations | Dublin Connolly, Belfast Grand Central |
| Other stations | Drogheda MacBride,Dundalk Clarke,Newry,Portadown.Lurgan andLisburn (08:05 ex Belfast & 20:50 ex Dublin, Sunday only) |
| Fleet | Eight201 Class locomotives Twenty eightDe Dietrich carriages FourMark 3 generator vans |
| Stations called at | 8 |
| Technical | |
| Length | 181km |
Enterprise is the cross-border inter-city train service betweenDublin Connolly in theRepublic of Ireland andBelfast Grand Central inNorthern Ireland, jointly operated byIarnród Éireann (IÉ) andNI Railways (NIR). It operates on theBelfast–Dublin railway line.
TheGreat Northern Railway (Ireland)(GNR(I)) introduced the service as the "Enterprise Express" on Monday 11 August 1947 in an attempt to compete with air and road transport which were challenging the railways.
The inaugural service was hauled by GNR (I) Steam Locomotive No.83 "Eagle." This name would later appear onNIRDiesel Electric locomotive No. 101.[1]
Billed as a prestige service, this allowed many of the intermediate stops between the two cities to be cut out reducing the journey time from around 3 hours 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes which aided business travel, which even today, remains an important market.
Customs checks were limited to the Belfast and Dublin terminals, instead of lengthy stops atGoraghwood andDundalk, so as to reduce journey times by ensuring that journeys were non-stop. Another innovation saw the introduction of advance ticket booking.[1]
The name of the train comes from the "enterprising" approach that the GNR(I) took to make journeys more convenient for passengers despite the requirement for customs checks.[citation needed] The initial service ran betweenBelfast Great Victoria Street and Dublin Amiens Street Junction (renamedDublin Connolly in 1966). Locomotives ofGNRI Class V were initially used, followed in 1948, byGNRI Class VS.[1]
A special train of Great Northern's most modern coaches was made up for theEnterprise. Normally this would consist of seven coaches, but this could be increased to ten during busy summer months. The 2 hour 15 minute timing allowed for this load and included provision for some delays en-route, such as temporary speed restrictions for track repairs.[1]
In comparison to theEnterprise service, the GNR (I) timetable for the Dublin - Belfast link in 1932 allocated 2 hours 2 minutes running time, equivalent to 1 hour 55 minutes non-stop, but station stops brought the overall end-to-end timing to 2 hours 25 minutes.[1]
For the first year of operation the "Enterprise," consisted of only one train in each direction. This comprised a 10:30 departure from Belfast, returning at 17:30 from Dublin, and was hauled by one or other of theGNRI Class V4-4-0 Compound Locomotives Nos. 83 - 87, named respectively;Eagle,Falcon,Merlin,Peregrine andKestrel, afterbirds of prey. Painted in GNR (I)'s colour scheme of sky-blue andvermillion, they were affectionatelynicknamed the "Bluebirds."[1]
In May 1948, a second train was brought into the schedule, giving a morning service at 09:30 from Dublin, returning from Belfast at 17:15. Towards the end of 1948 five new locomotives, specially built for theEnterprise, took over the service. These wereGNRI Class VS 4-4-0 Nos. 206 - 210, named;Liffey,Boyne,Lagan,Foyle andErne, after rivers which crossed the railway network.[1]
The next development took place in 1950, when newAEC /Park Royal VehiclesDiesel Mechanical Railcars were introduced on the Dublin-based train. This train, however, had to be restricted to four coaches - one of the limitations of these particular units. They did have the distinction, however, of being the first successful mainline diesel railcars in theBritish Isles.[1]
In October 1950, in conjunction withCIÉ, the service was extended to Glanmire Road station (renamed toCork Kent in 1966) inCork. Two sets of coaches were used, one GNR (I) and one CIÉ, working Belfast - Dublin - Cork and Cork - Dublin - Belfast on alternative days. The GNR (I) locomotives were used between Belfast and Dublin, and CIÉ steam locomotives between Dublin (Amiens Street) and Cork. The extended service saw the southbound train operating a journey time of 6 hours 45 minutes and the northbound train running a schedule of 6 hours 15 minutes.[1]
However this proved unsuccessful, in part due to the considerable journey time. The service lasted until June 1953 although a through coach to Cork was still conveyed on theEnterprise until September 1953.[2]
In October 1953 the governments of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland nationalised the GNR as the Great Northern Railway Board (GNRB).[3] The GNRB ordered new diesel-mechanical railcars of a more powerful design, which by using intermediate power cars with half-cabs and gangway ends, were capable of operating in sets of up to 8 coaches. Referred to asB.U.T. railcars, due to their design byBritish United Traction, they were introduced on the Belfast-based train in 1957 and the Dublin-based train in 1958, enabling timings to be reduced to 2 hours 10 minutes, and ending steam traction onEnterprise.[1]
On 1 October 1958 the GNRB was dissolved and its assets and liabilities were split betweenCóras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) and theUlster Transport Authority (UTA) — the predecessors of Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) and Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) respectively. In 1960, the first intermediate stop was introduced, when the 17:30 (ex) Dublin began to call atDundalk to pick up passengers for Belfast.[1]
The Dublin-based train reverted to locomotive haulage in 1962, when the first of CIÉ's newElectro-Motive Diesel141 Class locomotives were introduced.
April 1965 saw theEnterprise service upgraded to four trains each way per day - each set making two round trips. This gave services at 08:00, 11:30, 14:00 and 17:30 from Belfast, and 08:30, 11:00, 14:30 and 17:30 from Dublin. The number of ordinary stopping trains on the route was severely cut at the same time, in order to make the new express schedule work, and several additional stops atPortadown andDundalk were made by theEnterprise services to replace these local trains.[1]
Northern Ireland Railways came into existence in 1967, and shortly afterwards a complete new train was ordered for the NIR operated service. This was a radical advance on theB.U.T. railcars, and comprised Diesel-Electric main line locomotives and a train of eightBR MkIIb coaches, identical to the latest type entering service onBritish Railways, with suitable modification forIrish gauge.
ThreeNIR 101 Class locomotives were built; Nos. 101 - 103, appropriately namedEagle,Falcon andMerlin after their GNR predecessors. These locomotives were of theBo-Bo wheel arrangement and produced 1,350horsepower. The trains were designed to work in a push-pull formation, with driving trailers, or with a locomotive at each end. The locomotives were designed by theHunslet Engine Company,Leeds, and assembled atBR's Doncaster Works. This gave rise to the locomotives being fondly referred to as theHunslets.[1]
In 1972 CIÉ introduced BR MkIIe air-conditioned coaches on their train, bringing the standard into line with the NIR set. Further coaches were acquired by NIR, enabling theEnterprise to be made up to twelve coaches and two locomotives when required.[1]
The Belfast Central Railway was re-opened in 1976 following the completion of the Belfast Central Line Project, which involved the relaying of track along the route of the former line, and this saw the Belfastterminus moved to the newly constructedBelfast Central Station in April of that year. The new station was named after the former railway and was located some distance from Belfast City Centre, adjacent to the city's markets. (The name was a source of confusion to tourists and was eventually renamed toBelfast Lanyon Place in 2018).[citation needed]
The year 1976 also saw Northern Ireland customs examination moved toPortadown, the Republic's having been moved toDundalk a few years previously. This necessitated a further five minutes of allotted time for northbound trains. Also in 1977 regular stops atDrogheda became a feature ofEnterprise. To enable the same overall timings to be maintained faster and more powerfulCIÉ 181 Class locomotives replaced the older141 Class on the schedule.[1]
The service was upgraded in September 1997 with a new timetable and new coaching stock from French train makersDe Dietrich Ferroviaire (now Alstom DDF). At this point the service, which had operated under either the IÉ or NIR brands, was branded separately as Enterprise.[citation needed]
From the early 1970s until the late 1990s the service has suffered disruption, as a consequence ofthe Troubles, when it was regularly halted by bomb threats. These became so frequent and caused such considerable disruption to the service that a campaigning group, thePeace Train Organisation was formed in 1989. Since theNorthern Ireland peace process however, such disruption has diminished. Renewed investment in recent years has seen the line upgraded to continuously welded track capable of 145 km/h (90 mph) running along the southern part of the route, as part of Iarnród Éireann's rail network upgrades. The Northern Ireland section of the line was also upgraded to 90 mph running on many sections of the line.[citation needed]
Today the journey times vary between 2 hours 5 minutes (with four intermediate stops) and 2 hours 20 minutes (with six intermediate stops),[4] with an average speed of 93 and 84 km/h (58 and 52 mph) respectively.
TheRailway Preservation Society of Ireland runs a steam Enterprise in the summer months to exchange its Dublin-based engine with its Whitehead-based engine.
On Friday 21 August 2009 20 m (22 yd) of theBroadmeadow estuary viaduct, north of Malahide, collapsed, causing serious disruptions to Enterprise services. During the disruption the Enterprise operated between Belfast Central and Drogheda, with buses connecting Drogheda with Dublin Connolly. The line reopened on Monday 16 November with full services resumed.
The Enterprise underwent a face-lift during between November 2007 and early 2009, with the carriages being resprayed in silver with green livery, some of which could be seen at Translink's York Road Maintenance Depot.
In 2014, a mid-life refurbishment programme was announced for the Enterprise service.[5] Rotating refurbishment involved substituting non-Enterprise trainsets on an individual basis which began in November 2014, with a return to service of the first revamped coaches in November 2015. Refurbishment provided new mechanical running gear, in coach electronics and modernised interiors. The first refurbished set, consisting of DVT 9002 and Locomotive 206, operated a trial service from York Road Depot in Belfast to Dublin Connolly and back, on Thursday 15 October 2015.
Press reports from 2007 have stated that NIR & IÉ plan to introduce a new hourly service.[6][7][8] This was reiterated in a statement byConor Murphy, the then Northern Ireland Minister for Regional Development, who stated that the two companies had made a presentation to theNorth/South Ministerial Council in October 2007 putting forward the case for improvements in the frequency and speed of the service.[9]
Any improvements to the service would require significant investment in track and signalling, as well as new rolling stock. In April 2008, the then Minister for Regional Development stated that the major improvements to the infrastructure and rolling stock required by Enterprise would be in the region of £500 million.[10] However, the introduction of an hourly timetable remains an ambition for NIR and IÉ.[11]
The line south of the border was upgraded tocontinuous welded rail in the 1990s, while NIR has also made track improvements to allow an increase in speed.[12] Enterprise would require a minimum of seven trains to operate an hourly service – until 2013, IÉ had a significant number of storedMark 3 rolling stock available, of which five sets were push-pull capable.
However, all of IÉ's Mark 3 carriages were scrapped during 2013 and 2014. NIR also withdrew its"Gatwick" set in June 2009 and it has been preserved by the RPSI. The introduction of the 22000 Class could potentially be used to enhance the frequency of the Enterprise which has led to a surplus of locomotives that could be utilised. The major issue remains the capacity atDublin Connolly, which is stretched.[13]
In July 2024, as part of a set of major improvements to its national timetable, Iarnród Éireann announced that Enterprise would transition to an hourly frequency following the opening ofBelfast Grand Central. The expanded service operates from Monday–Saturday, and allows arrivals in both Belfast and Dublin before 9.00am. In order to meet the new service frequency from its launch, the existing Enterprise fleet is being supplemented by a pair of22000 Class units, and one doubleClass 3000 unit fromNI Railways, each of which are six cars long. This is until the planned entry into service of the new fleet from 2029.[14] The service began on 29 October 2024.[15]
Eachpush-pull trainset consists of seven coaches and a201 Class locomotive. The 28 carriages were delivered as four sets of seven but entered service as three sets of eight, with two locomotives from each operator. Thecoaches were manufactured byDe Dietrich Ferroviaire, while the locomotives are fromGM-EMD; ownership of the rolling stock is shared between both operators, with carriage maintenance by NIR and locomotives maintained by IÉ.[16] The coaching stock is based on theClass 373Eurostar stock, with the interiors identical to the pre-overhaul Eurostar interior. The Eurostar stock is articulated and permanently coupled, while the Enterprise is ordinary coaching stock.
The service had suffered from a lack of reliability of the locomotives, which providehead end power to the train. Unlike IÉ's Dublin-Cork services, which operate with the locomotive operating with agenerator control car that provides power for lighting and heating the train, the Enterprise fleet was only equipped with an ordinary control car, which had no power generating capability. This meant that the locomotive had to provide all the power for the train, both motive and generating. Extended operation in this mode caused damage, so four further locomotives were allocated to Enterprise from the IÉ fleet. However, this still required locomotives to be used in HEP mode, so in May 2009 the Minister for Regional Development in Northern Ireland requested an estimate for the provision of generator functions for the existing rolling stock so that head-end power mode would no longer be needed.[11]
In order to avoid further problems, a modifiedMark 3 Generator van, formerly 7604, was introduced on Monday 10 September 2012. Three further such generator vans have since entered service.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||
| 201 Class | .jpg) | Diesel locomotive | 102 | 164 | 8 | 1994–1995 |
| De Dietrich stock | .jpg) | Passengercoaches | 90 | 145 | 28 | 1996 |
| Mark 3 | .JPG) | Generator van | 100 | 160 | 4 | 1980 (Refurbished 2009) |
If an Enterprise set is unavailable, either a NIR or an IÉ set can be used. Both NIR and IÉ have equipped six each of their newest DMUs (3000 and29000) and ten22000 Class DMUs to each other's specifications so they may be used in the event of a breakdown.
Both IÉ and NIR have an ambition to introduce hourly services, but it would be necessary to procure new, faster rolling stock to achieve the required improvements in frequency and speed. In 2005, they investigated procuring new rolling stock when seven 125 mph (200 km/h) capableClass 222 DEMUs built for theBritish network became available as one of the possible options, which also included the procurement of additional22000 Class DMUs as part of IÉ's order.[17] New rolling stock would most likely be amultiple unit rather than locomotive-hauled, similar to IÉ's plans for Dublin-Cork services.
In 2023, IÉ and NIR published a tender valued at €650 million for a fleet of 8 new battery-equippedelectro-diesel multiple units, capable of making the journey between Dublin and Belfast in 2 hours or less. They are to be designed to allow for the removal of their diesel engines and conversion todual-voltage operation in the future. It is hoped the entire fleet will be in service by 2029.[18] In 2024, an announcement was made that funding totalling €165m had been secured from thePEACE PLUS programme.[19]
On 18 September 2025, the contract to construct the new sets was awarded toStadler Rail. A court challenge from unsuccessful tendererConstrucciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles put the contract on hold and threatened the loss of EU funding,[20] leading the court to lift the injunction and allow the contract to continue on 26 November.[21]
In November 2007 the cross-borderIBEC-CBI Joint Business Council, in a submission to theNorth/South Ministerial Council, stated that Enterprise was falling behind compared to the improvements of other international rail providers, with delays "often up to an hour" and serious reliability problems and an uncompetitive journey time against making the journey by road.[22]
With the faster road journey to Dublin and the Enterprise's unreliability and infrequency, it has faced a loss of revenue as passengers switch to much cheaper and faster alternatives.[23][24]
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