Belfast–Dublin line

The Belfast–Dublin Main Line is a main and busiest railway route on the island of Ireland that connects Dublin Connolly station in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast Lanyon Place station in Northern Ireland. It is the only railway line that crosses the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border.

Belfast–Dublin Main Line
Enterprise De Dietrich DVT 9004 at Lisburn
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	Ireland
Termini	Belfast Lanyon Place Dublin Connolly
Stations	8
Service
Type	Commuter rail Regional rail Heavy rail
System	Iarnród Éireann NI Railways
Operator(s)	Iarnród Éireann NI Railways
Rolling stock	8100 Class 8500, 8510 and 8520 Classes 201 Class 22000 Class 29000 Class "CxK" Class 3000 "C3K" Class 4000 "C4K" De Dietrich Stock 071 Class
History
Opened	1876
Technical
Line length	181 kilometres (112 mi)
Number of tracks	Double track
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) Irish gauge
Electrification	1,500 V DC overhead line (south of Malahide)
Operating speed	90 mph (140 km/h)
Route map Legend Year closed Belfast–Larne & Derry Lines Belfast–Bangor Line River Lagan Belfast Lanyon Place Botanic City Hospital City Junction to Belfast Great Victoria Street Adelaide Balmoral Finaghy M1 Dunmurry Derriaghy Lambeg Hilden Lisburn Knockmore 2005 Lisburn-Antrim line Banbridge, Lisburn & Belfast Jn Rly to Banbridge Maze 1974 Broomhedge Halt 1973 Damhead Halt 1973 Moira M1 Pritchards Bridge 1844 Lurgan Goodyear Halt 1983 Seagoe 1842 River Bann Portadown to Armagh 1957 Tanderagee 1965 Scarva Acton Crossing 1954 Poyntzpass Augheranter Crossing 1954 Knockarney Crossing 1965 to Armagh 1955 Goraghwood 1965 to Warrenpoint 1965 Mullaghglass 1901 Craigmore Viaduct Newry Wellington Inn 1852 Adavoyle 1933 Northern Ireland Ireland border Mt. Pleasant 1965 M1 Castletown River Dundalk Clarke Dundalk Junct. station 1894 to Enniskillen 1957 GNR(I) Works Castlebellingham 1976 to Ardee 1975 Dromin Junction 1975 Dunleer 1984 Newfoundwell Boyne Viaduct Drogheda MacBride Dublin–Navan railway line (freight only) Laytown Laytown Viaduct Mosney 2000 Gormanston Balbriggan Ardgillan 1867 Skerries Skerries Golf Club Halt 1960 Baldongan 1847 Rush and Lusk Rogerstown Viaduct Donabate Broadmeadow viaduct Malahide Portmarnock Clongriffin Baldoyle 1852 to Howth Howth Junction & Donaghmede Kilbarrack Raheny Harmonstown Killester Clontarf 1956 Clontarf Road Fairview DART depot River Tolka North Wall Yard to Alexandra Road Western Commuter & Sligo Line Docklands The Royal Canal Dublin Connolly Luas Red Line to Tallaght and Saggart Loopline Bridge Trans-Dublin Line & Rosslare Line This diagram: view talk edit

History

The railway line was built by three separate companies. In 1837 the Ulster Railway began building a railway line between Belfast and Lisburn, which was extended in stages to Portadown in 1842 and as far as Clones by 1863. The Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) built the line between Dublin and Drogheda. The Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway (D&B Jct) linked the Dublin and Drogheda with the Ulster Railway at Portadown. The D&D and the D&B Jct merged in 1875 to form the Northern Railway of Ireland. In 1876 this new company merged with the Ulster Railway and the Irish North Western Railway, forming the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNRI).

The partition of Ireland in 1922 meant that the Irish border passed between Newry and Dundalk, which caused lengthy delays as trains were required to stop at stations on either side of the border for customs examinations. This disruption was eased in 1947 with the opening of facilities for customs checks at Amiens Street station and Great Victoria Street station.

At the same time, the GNRI made its Belfast–Dublin services non-stop with the launch of the Enterprise Express. The GNRI was nationalised by the governments of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in 1953 as the Great Northern Railway Board, but in 1958 this was split between the Ulster Transport Authority and Córas Iompair Éireann. This led to a running down of rail services in Northern Ireland, leaving only some Belfast commuter lines, the northern route to Derry and the link to Dublin. In 1970 the newly formed NI Railways bought new locomotives and rolling stock for the Belfast–Dublin Enterprise service as well as new diesel multiple units for local services.

Upgrades

In 2000, the government of the Republic of Ireland developed a National Development Plan, which has seen major investment in infrastructure. Almost the entire railway network, including the Belfast–Dublin line as far as the border, has been upgraded to continuous welded rail, while signalling is controlled using the Centralised Traffic Control system located at Dublin Connolly station.

In addition, in 1997, a set of new De Dietrich Stock coaches were purchased jointly by Northern Ireland Railways and Iarnród Éireann to operate a revamped Enterprise service along with the new Class 201 locomotives.^[1]

High-speed rail proposal

In 2020 the Irish Government confirmed it will be launching a study into an approximately 500 km (310 mi) high-speed railway from Belfast via Dublin to Cork and Limerick,^[2] which could cost around €15 billion.^[3]

Services

In addition to the inter-city service between Belfast and Dublin, both NIR and IÉ operate local services along the route. NIR operates local services along the northern half of the line (see Belfast–Newry line) between Belfast and Lisburn, Portadown and Newry, while IE operates its Commuter services between Dublin and Dundalk as part of the Dublin Suburban Rail network. In addition, the line between Dublin Connolly and Malahide is electrified and forms part of the DART network.

One early morning weekday IÉ Commuter stopping service also operates from Newry to Dublin Connolly and returns to Newry in the evening.

The line is also used by rail passengers changing at Dublin Connolly onto the DART and also by connecting bus travelling to Dublin Port for the Irish Ferries or Stena Line to Holyhead and then by train along the North Wales Coast Line to London Euston and other destinations in England and Wales.^[4]

• Dublin to Belfast intercity

Monday to Saturday 8 trains in each direction Sunday 5 trains in each direction

Services reach a maximum operational speed 90 mph (145 km/h) in certain sections of the route.^[5]

Simulation

The route has been released as a commercial add on for Microsoft Train Simulator by Making Tracks. It was released in two sections, part one covering Lanyon Place to Dundalk,^[6] with part two covering the section from Dundalk to Dublin. It is set during the 2000s.^[7]

References

1. . Irish Rail. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
2. "Study to investigate Belfast – Dublin – Cork high-speed line". International Railway Journal. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
3. "Review of €15bn high-speed rail line linking Dublin, Belfast, Cork". Irish Times. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
4. Holyhead National Rail Enquiries
5. "Better Connecting Dublin & Belfast Enterprise - Strategic Development Plan" (PDF). Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail). (PDF) from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
6. . Making Tracks. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
7. . Making Tracks. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2009.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dublin–Belfast railway line.

• Irish Rail Dublin Connolly Station Website
• Dublin - Belfast - Dublin Mainline timetable
• Dublin - Dundalk - Dublin Suburban timetable