Enterprise: Belfast-Dublin Rail To Receive Multi-Million Investment
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Cross-border rail services between Belfast and Dublin are set to benefit from a £141.9m investment.
These are points from the rest of the article.
- The investment is part of the Peace Plus initiative which funds projects in Northern Ireland and border counties.
- The funding will support a major programme aimed at providing an hourly service between Belfast and Dublin.
- All existing Enterprise trains are to be replaced with brand new trains by the end of this decade leading to faster journey times.
- Ian Campbell from transport company Translink said that the announcement was “good news” and “very much needed”.
- Mr Campbell said the funding would allow the current fleet of four enterprise trains to be replaced by eight new trains.
- He said that these trains would allow a “step up in accessibility and passenger experience”, as well as reducing the journey times by “about 15 minutes”.
- He added that the trains would be “designed ultimately to operate as a net zero service using sustainable technology”.
- Mr Campbell said that the hourly service was “very much needed” as Translink expected there to be demand for two million passenger journeys on the service by 2030.
- Funding is also being provided by the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in Northern Ireland and the Department of Transport in the Republic of Ireland.
These are my thoughts.
The Enterprise Service
The BBC article describes the service like this.
Jointly operated by Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann, the Enterprise train service has provided a transport link between Belfast and Dublin for over 75 years.
These are some points about the tracks and the trains.
- The Northern terminal is Belfast Lanyon Place station.
- The Southern terminal is Dublin Connolly station.
- The Wikipedia entry for the Belfast and Dublin line says the distance is 112 miles, with an operating speed of 90 mph.
The fastest services take two hours and five minutes, which is an average speed of 54 mph.
Electrification Between Dublin And Belfast
Currently, only the nine miles at the Southern end between Dublin Connolly and Malahide stations is electrified using 1,500 V DC overhead.
But there is a program being planned called Dart+, which could see electrification extended by 23 miles to Drogheda station.
New Trains For The Enterprise Service
The BBC article made these points about the new trains.
- Ian Campbell from transport company Translink said that the announcement was “good news” and “very much needed”.
- Mr Campbell said the funding would allow the current fleet of four enterprise trains to be replaced by eight new trains.
- He said that these trains would allow a “step up in accessibility and passenger experience”, as well as reducing the journey times by “about 15 minutes”.
- He added that the trains would be “designed ultimately to operate as a net zero service using sustainable technology”.
This article on Rail Technology Magazine is entitled Multi-Million Pound Transformation For Belfast-Dublin Rail Services.
The last two paragraphs of the article give more details of the trains.
This funding will finance the replacement of the current Enterprise fleet of four train-sets with eight new, modern and sustainable train-sets. Enterprise is jointly operated by Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann, and the new trains are designed to evolve as both jurisdictions work towards a fully electrified cross-border rail corridor over the coming decades.
The procurement process for the new train-sets is set to be completed in the coming year, with the fleet expected to be in operation by 2029. The trains will be designed initially to run on electric and battery power, with the possibility to be converted into fully electric operation in the future.
After the DART reaches Drogheda, 32 miles of the Enterprise route will be electrified, with 80 miles unelectrified.
If it is assumed that the Dublin Connolly and Drogheda electrification, means that all trains leave Drogheda for Belfast with a full battery, then it looks to me, that there are three ways, this route could be operated.
- Trains would have a range on excess of 80 miles and would be charged by a short length of overhead wire in or near Belfast Lanyon Place station.
- Trains would have a range on excess of 160 miles and would be charged, whilst running South of Drogheda.
- Trains would be tri-mode trains, with diesel power.
Note.
- Battery-electric multiple units have already been ordered for the Dublin DART from Alstom.
- There are several charging systems available from companies like Furrer+Frey, Hitachi and others.
- The Guinness World Record for a battery-electric train is around 140 miles, but battery technology is improving.
- I suspect range will rule out the second option.
- The first option would be zero-carbon from day one.
Choosing the first option would seem to be the most likely option.
When electrification between Belfast Lanyon Place and Dublin Connolly is completed, all trains could be converted to either all-electric or battery-electric trains.
Could Similar Techniques Be Used To Decarbonise Other Irish Routes?
Just as the Belfast service uses a branch of the electrified DART, as a route out of Dublin, it appears that other Irish routes share tracks with the DART to access stations in the centre of Dublin.
- Cork services share the DART branch to Hazelhatch and Celbridge station.
- Sligo services share the DART branch to Maynooth station.
- Rosslare services share the DART branch to Greystones station.
- Waterford services share the DART branch to Hazelhatch and Celbridge station.
I can see similar trains, that will be used between Dublin and Belfast, being used on other routes to and from Dublin.
Conclusion
Decarbonisation of Dublin and Belfast could be the start of something big and green in the island of Ireland.
I suspect train manufacturers, like Alstom, CAF and Stadler will use all their skills to secure the contract to build the trains for the Enterprise service.
The Anonymous Widower 
While it’s good to read that the Irish Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly have agreed to increase the paltry investment previously announced for the Dublin-Belfast route I think there are still a number of outstanding issues that need to addressed before the Enterprise service even touches on providing the same levels that exist on the Dublin-Cork and Dublin – Sligo routes.
Reading this excellent blog by Slugger O’Toole put the latest rose tinted PR into context
https://www.sluggerotoole.com/2024/03/03/the-past-present-and-future-of-cross-border-rail/
Comment by fammorris | April 17, 2024 |
I think there’s some interesting timing here.
In November 2020, LNER announced they were looking for ten bi-mode trains and I wrote about it here.
https://anonw.com/2020/11/25/lner-seeks-10-more-bi-modes/
Who was the rail Minister at the time? Chris Heaton-Harris was Rail Minister from July 2019 to December 2021.
This is his profile on his web site.
https://www.heatonharris.com/about-chris
Interestingly, he is a qualified football referee.
He probably didn’t tell LNER to choose bi-modes, but he obviously didn’t veto LNER’s plans.
Before politics, he ran the family business;What 4 in New Covent Garden Market. What the company did is not stated, but I suspect he knows his onions.
It looks to me, that Alstom, CAF, Hitachi, Stadler and possibly others, made extremely good proposals to LNER for these 10 bi-mode trains and I suspect he was well aware of the technology and the details.
But he had left the Department of Transport, by the time the deal for 10 CAF bi-mode trains was signed in November 2023.
When he became Minister of State for Northern Ireland in September 2022, because of his previous experience in the Department of Transport, I suspect he looked at the state of Northern Ireland’s railways.
I’ve used Northern Ireland’s diesel-powered railways and they are far inferior to Scotland or East Anglia.
I believe that improving and eventually decarbonising Northern Ireland’s railways could be a big benefit to the province.
So if someone had suggested that battery-electric trains could be used on the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin, he would probably have had access to a former colleague in the UK Department of Transport or LNER, who would be able to judge the feasibility of a battery-electric Enterprise service.
I suspect his referring skills came in useful in getting all parties to agree!
Because CAF were successful with LNER and because they can make trains in any gauge and voltage, I wouldn’t be surprised to see CAF successful.
Although because the Enterprise service, runs on the electrified DART track into Dublin and Alstom are providing the new DART+ fleet, Alstom must also have a great chance.
I also believe that the same trains could be used to serve other destinations from Dublin and possibly Derry/Londonderry from Belfast.
Someone with vision could transform rail travel in the Island of Ireland.
After reading Slugger O’Toole and because I’ve ridden both the Enterprise service and Derry/Londonderry and Belfast, I note that it could be operationally similar to London and Edinburgh and onto Aberdeen.
Derry/Londonderry and Belfast is 99 kilometres or 62 miles.
Much of the route is single track.
The operating speed is 90 mph or 140 kpm.
Trains take about two hours.
Trains would be charged at both Derry/Londonderry and Belfast.
I wonder if some trains could go between Dublin Connolly and Derry/Londonderry.
Comment by AnonW | April 17, 2024 |
This is part of a longer-term all-island rail review https://www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/articles/all-island-strategic-rail-review which should be releasing its final document shortly. As usual, it’s all dependent on governments coming up with the appropriate funding (and indeed whether there is a government at the N end at all). It will be interesting to see what they recommend for electrification. If these proposed trains do come in before the line is electrified, it would be a good test of battery power for mainline services.
Comment by Peter Robins | April 19, 2024 |
You could argue that the railway geography in the British Isles is pretty similar away from the main lines.
I suspect in ten years, there will be battery trains everywhere.
There are many engineers, railway enthusiasts and applied mathematicians, who could calculate how many self-powered trains would be needed to decarbonise the railways in the British Isles.
Work it out and design a rolling program of decarbonisation.
Comment by AnonW | April 19, 2024 |
Ireland’s a good test tube, as it currently has no electrification (apart from DART). Even Wales has recently acquired some, and I don’t think there’s any other European country with none at all.
Comment by Peter Robins | April 19, 2024