Happy Birthday Enterprise

[Galteemore]

Enterprise rail link between Belfast and Dublin marks 75 years https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-62498330

[Sean Hogan]

If my dad was alive he would be a very proud man after being part of it in its early days from steam to diesel fond memories.

[Branchline121]

Quote

[There’s] ambitious plans to develop the service in the next decade[?]

I wonder if they mean electrification? Eh. Probably not. Anyways, Happy Birthday Enterprise!

[Branchline121]

 

[spudfan]

Live long and prosper...  

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Branchline121 said:

I wonder if they mean electrification? Eh. Probably not. Anyways, Happy Birthday Enterprise!

I wouldn’t be surprised if they mean some sort of hybrid thing…..

[Northroader]

[airfixfan]

105 minutes in 1947 and 100 minutes journey time today. Progress!

[DSERetc]

A retired UK customs man told me the following story.  I have not been able to verify it from independent sources.    Before the non-stop Enterprise  service began between Belfast and Dublin, all customs examinations were done at the border at Goraghwood and Dundalk, often causing delays.   When the non-stop Enterprise service started, two customs men travelled on the train and did an examination of the passengers  luggage on the way up to Dublin in the morning and another examination on the way down to Belfast in the evening.    They had the afternoon free in Dublin.  However very soon the Bosses in the Customs realised that this was not a very economic use of manpower.

The decision was made to have the bags examined on tables in the station when the train arrived in Belfast.  Not wishing to lose the cushy Enterprise duty, the customs men decided that they would work to rule and thoroughly examine every single bag of every single passenger so that there would be such an outcry of protest from the public that they would get back on the train.

After one month they gave up their work to rule.    Not one word of protest had been sent in.    The customs examination remained on tables  in the station.

 

DSERetc

[DoctorPan]

On 12/8/2022 at 6:53 AM, airfixfan said:

105 minutes in 1947 and 100 minutes journey time today. Progress!

Lot more trains on the corridor in 2022 then 1947...

On 11/8/2022 at 2:13 PM, jhb171achill said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if they mean some sort of hybrid thing…..

I mean works are in progress to bring the wires to Drogheda.  Would make sense to have a bimodel loco to take advantage of them.

[connollystn]

@Branchline121 - Thanks for uploading the video, it was interesting to watch.

[Westcorkrailway]

On 11/8/2022 at 2:25 PM, Northroader said:

[Lev Pavliuk]

On 8/15/2022 at 12:07 PM, DoctorPan said:

 

I mean works are in progress to bring the wires to Drogheda.  Would make sense to have a bimodel loco to take advantage of them.

Do you have any information on when work will start? Or it's just plan?

[airfixfan]

Depends on getting serious money from Stormont which means that funding is unlikely with the current stalemate at Stormont

[DoctorPan]

9 hours ago, Lev Pavliuk said:

Do you have any information on when work will start? Or it's just plan?

BEMU phase of the project has gone to planning permission. DART + Coastal North is about to enter the detailed design stage.

[Louth]

DART+ will add more commuter traffic to the Dublin-Drogheda line. This will slow up services from Belfast and Dundalk which tend to crawl in from Malahide already. The only solution is to four-track the line from Malahide to Connolly (passing loops would be an interim solution) and to remodel Connolly itself. DART Underground would also make a big difference and allow services to run straight through to the Heuston and beyond. We will have to wait for the outcome of the Strategic Rail Review and DART+ consultation process to see what solutions are proposed.....but I wouldn't be holding my breath!  We will probably get hydrogen powered trains instead.

[airfixfan]

On Saturday the 16.50 to Belfast took 20minutes to reach Malahide!

[jhb171achill]

2 hours ago, Louth said:

DART+ will add more commuter traffic to the Dublin-Drogheda line. This will slow up services from Belfast and Dundalk which tend to crawl in from Malahide already. The only solution is to four-track the line from Malahide to Connolly (passing loops would be an interim solution) and to remodel Connolly itself. DART Underground would also make a big difference and allow services to run straight through to the Heuston and beyond. We will have to wait for the outcome of the Strategic Rail Review and DART+ consultation process to see what solutions are proposed.....but I wouldn't be holding my breath!  We will probably get hydrogen powered trains instead.

We certainly appear to have hydrogen-powered politicians making these announcements! (or is it methane, or flatulence?)

[airfixfan]

Flatulence!