Forthcoming visit to Ireland

[STEVIEBOY1]

All being well, in a week or so, I shall be visiting Ireland and should be doing a couple of longish train journeys, one from Dublin to Belfast on the Enterprise Express and the other from Belfast to LondonDerry/Derry.

I don't know much about Irish trains, does anyone know if either of these are loco hauled or multiple units and would they be diesel or electric.

Is the gauge in the North and South the same to?

Thanks.

 

[62484GlenLyon]

The gauge is the same across the island of Ireland - a non-standard 5 foot 3 inches/1600 mm. Although the railway administrations in both parts of Ireland are separate there is a lot of interworking. Indeed the Dublin to Belfast service is a joint operation between NI Railways and IE. Most trains on both systems are DMUs. The DART, serving the Dublin area, is 1,500v DC overhead, and is the only electrically worked part of the network. Dublin to Belfast trains may be loco hauled - formed of a IE 201 class loco or one NIR's locos, numbered 208 or 209 - or a one of NIR's DMUs. Other than Dublin to Cork all other IE and NI Railways services are DMU.

You may see IE locos of classes 071 and 201 working freights. NIR have three class 111 locos which work departmental and any other odd and ends. The 071s and 111s are, to all intents and purposes, identical apart from livery - the 111s are blue while the 071s are in various liveries.

Dublin also has a tram system, the LUAS, which is worth sampling. Enjoy your visit!

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I see that there is disruption to Stena ferry services to Ireland, partly as a consequence of the P&O Ferries stoppage.
Fishguard-Rosslare is cancelled for a couple of weeks while Stena moves its ships around, prioritising services to NI where there are concerns about food shortages.
Holyhead-Dublin retains its services but with a different mix of ships.

 

[danm14]

All being well, in a week or so, I shall be visiting Ireland and should be doing a couple of longish train journeys, one from Dublin to Belfast on the Enterprise Express and the other from Belfast to LondonDerry/Derry.

I don't know much about Irish trains, does anyone know if either of these are loco hauled or multiple units and would they be diesel or electric.

Is the gauge in the North and South the same to?

Thanks.

Dublin-Belfast should be locomotive hauled using the dedicated Enterprise stock unless there is a fault with one of the sets. In the event of a fault, it will be be replaced with an NIR Class 3000/4000 or Irish Rail Class 22000 multiple unit, depending on where the fault occurred. In very rare cases, as a last resort to avoid cancellation, it may be replaced with an Irish Rail Class 29000 multiple unit, designed for commuter services.

The Belfast-Londonderry service will be operated by an NIR Class 3000/4000 unit.

All trains on the island of Ireland are diesel powered, except the commuter trains in Dublin branded as DART.

 

[Flying Snail]

I see that there is disruption to Stena ferry services to Ireland, partly as a consequence of the P&O Ferries stoppage.
Fishguard-Rosslare is cancelled for a couple of weeks while Stena moves its ships around, prioritising services to NI where there are concerns about food shortages.
Holyhead-Dublin retains its services but with a different mix of ships.

This is currently due to be resolved on Tuesday 12 April with the resumption of the Rosslare - Fishguard service.

 

[Lewlew]

Fishguard-Rosslare is cancelled for a couple of weeks while Stena moves its ships around

I hope not as I'm due to travel that route on Thursday! And not had any communication that it was disrupted.

 

[Flying Snail]

I hope not as I'm due to travel that route on Thursday! And not had any communication that it was disrupted.

It very much is cancelled, as shown on both public www.stenaline.co.uk and freight https://www.stenalinefreight.com/timetable/ROFI websites.

Stena Europe is currently being used on Dublin - Holyhead.

Vehicle reservations will be transferred to the Irish Ferries Pembroke - Rosslare sailings, I don't know what arrangement there is for foot passengers or Rail - Sail customers expecting to go to/from Fishguard. I suggest you contact Stena ASAP https://www.stenaline.co.uk/customer-services

 

[Lewlew]

It very much is cancelled, as shown on both public www.stenaline.co.uk and freight https://www.stenalinefreight.com/timetable/ROFI websites.

Stena Europe is currently being used on Dublin - Holyhead.

Vehicle reservations will be transferred to the Irish Ferries Pembroke - Rosslare sailings, I don't know what arrangement there is for foot passengers or Rail - Sail customers expecting to go to/from Fishguard. I suggest you contact Stena ASAP https://www.stenaline.co.uk/customer-services

Thanks for this. I couldn't find it on the UK or IE websites. It kept directing me to Harwich to Holland.

 

[Gloster]

There is an item on the BBC News website. Choose Local News and put Fishguard in as the location.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Many thanks for all this info, we are going on Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin, outbound is the 14.10 service which as it takes 3 hours, I think is a ship, the return is around 14.00 too but only takes 2 hours so I presume is a fast cat thingy.

 

[Flying Snail]

Many thanks for all this info, we are going on Irish Ferries from Holyhead to Dublin, outbound is the 14.10 service which as it takes 3 hours, I think is a ship, the return is around 14.00 too but only takes 2 hours so I presume is a fast cat thingy.

Keep a close eye on the Irish Ferries update page https://www.irishferries.com/ie-en/sailing-updates/dublin-holyhead/ for your return trip. The fast ferry gets cancelled a lot due to weather (as it is for today and tomorrow) and IF refuse to carry foot passengers on the 14.30 Epsilon sailing, even when disrupted from the fast ferry. They generally just direct foot passengers to the 08.05 or 20.55 sailings which will probably not suit many who had planned on the afternoon sailing.

Your best alternative in this case is probably the 14.45 Stena crossing, an IF ticket is not valid for this so you would need IF to arrange carriage or a refund of their ticket.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Keep a close eye on the Irish Ferries update page https://www.irishferries.com/ie-en/sailing-updates/dublin-holyhead/ for your return trip. The fast ferry gets cancelled a lot due to weather (as it is for today and tomorrow) and IF refuse to carry foot passengers on the 14.30 Epsilon sailing, even when disrupted from the fast ferry. They generally just direct foot passengers to the 08.05 or 20.55 sailings which will probably not suit many who had planned on the afternoon sailing.

Your best alternative in this case is probably the 14.45 Stena crossing, an IF ticket is not valid for this so you would need IF to arrange carriage or a refund of their ticket.

Ok, thanks for this tip.