Enterprise (train service)

Enterprise
Overview
Franchise(s): Not subject to franchising (1997 - present)
Main station(s): Dublin Connolly,
Belfast Central
Other station(s): Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry, Portadown, Lurgan (Sunday morning only), Lisburn
Fleet size: 8 201 Class locomotives
28 De Dietrich carriages
4 Mark 3 generator vans
Stations called at: 8
National Rail abbreviation: N/A: Not part of National Rail
Parent company: Iarnród Éireann/
Northern Ireland Railways
Website: www.translink.co.uk/enterprise
Enterprise route map
Belfast CentralNI Railways
 LisburnNI Railways
 Lurgan (Sunday only)NI Railways
 PortadownNI Railways
 NewryNI Railways
 NI (UK)/ ROI border
DundalkIarnród Éireann
 DroghedaIarnród Éireann
 Dublin ConnollyIarnród Éireann Luas

Enterprise is the cross-border inter-city train service between Dublin Connolly in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast Central in Northern Ireland, jointly operated by Iarnród Éireann (IE) and NI Railways (NIR). It operates on the Belfast–Dublin railway line.

History

The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I)) introduced the service as the "Enterprise Express" on 11 August 1947 in an attempt to compete with air and road transport which were challenging the railways. In particular, business travel was and is an important market. Customs checks were limited to the Belfast and Dublin terminals to reduce journey times by ensuring that journeys were non-stop, and advance booking was available. Apparently 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. The initial service ran between Belfast Great Victoria Street station and Dublin Amiens Street station, which was renamed Dublin Connolly in 1966.

In October 1950 the service was extended beyond Dublin to Cork. This proved unsuccessful and ceased in September 1953 when the governments of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland nationalised the GNR as the Great Northern Railway Board (GNRB). The Cork service's unpopularity may also have been due to the six-and-a-half-hour journey time.[1]

On 1 October 1958 the GNRB was dissolved and its assets and liabilities were split between Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) and the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) — the predecessors of Iarnród Éireann (IÉ) and Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) respectively. Following the completion of the Belfast Central Line Project, the Belfast terminal moved to Belfast Central station in April 1976.

The service was upgraded in September 1997 with a new timetable and new coaching stock from French train makers De 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.

The service has suffered disruption, particularly during the 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, the Peace Train Organisation was formed in 1989. Since the Northern 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.

Timetable times vary between 1 hour 53 minutes (with one intermediate stop) and 2 hours 15 minutes (with four intermediate stops),[2] an average speed of 97 and 81 km/h (60 and 50 mph) respectively.

The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland runs a Steam Enterprise in the summer months to exchange its Dublin-based engine with its Whitehead-based engine.

Autumn 2009 Disruption

On 21 August 2009 20 m (22 yd) of the Broadmeadow 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 16 November with full services resumed.

Mid-life refurbishment

The Enterprise underwent a face-lift during 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.[3] 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 15 October 2015. The same set operated its first official passenger service after its refurbishment on 16 November 2015. The refurbishment was officially completed on 10 April 2016, to coincide with the introduction of an enhanced Enterprise timetable.

Services

Passengers can travel "First Plus" or "Enterprise Class". Additional to a trolley service there is a "Café Bar". First Plus offers a full three-course menu serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, air conditioning, tinted windows, adjustable blinds and individual reading lamps.

Rolling stock

Current fleet

Enterprise Control Car 9001 stands at Dublin Connolly

Each Push–pull trainset consists of seven coaches and a 201 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. The coaches were manufactured by De Dietrich Ferroviaire, while the locomotives are from GM-EMD; ownership of the rolling stock is shared between both operators, with carriage maintenance by NIR and locomotives maintained by IE. The coaching stock is based on the Class 373 EMU stock used by Eurostar, with the interiors identical. The EMU stock is articulated and permanently coupled, but the Enterprise is ordinary coaching stock.

The interior of a First Plus carriage, built to a similar design and specification as Eurostar's rolling stock

The service had suffered from a lack of reliability of the locomotives, which provide head end power to the train. Unlike IÉ's Dublin-Cork services, which operate with the locomotive operating with a generator 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.[4]

In order to avoid further problems, a modified Mark 3 Generator van, formerly 7604, was introduced on 10 September 2012. Three further such generator vans have since entered service.

 Class  Image  Type   Top speed   Number   Routes operated   Built 
 mph   km/h 
201 Class diesel locomotive 102 164 8 Dublin – Belfast 1994–1995
De Dietrich stock Passenger coaches 90 145 28 Dublin – Belfast 1996
Mark 3 Generator van 100 160 4 Dublin – Belfast 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 (C3K, C4K, 22000, and 29000 ) to each other's specifications so they may be used in the event of a breakdown.

Formation

The Enterprise has many characteristic features. The formation of the train is: DVT with First Plus, First Plus, buffet carriage, four standard carriages, a Mark 3 Generator Van and a 201 Class locomotive.

DVT

All trains have a DVT, which is a control room where the driver operates the train. Each train is given a unique number, between 9001–9004. 9004 seems to be the most frequent one on duties, with 9003 being the second most. However 9001 is rare, for some unknown reason. 9002 would be the second rarest, seen on some duties. Inside the cab is a phone, a horn lever and one chair. The cab is air-conditioned. These only operate services from Belfast, as the locomotive goes north.

First Plus (1)

The first first plus carriage is the first carriage of The Enterprise. It has 29 first plus seats, luggage area, wheelchair space, four main doors and two intermediate doors and weighs a total of 42 tonnes. The four main doors slide open, while the two intermediate doors (the drivers door and the entrance to the next carriage) are opened by hand.

Smoke coming out of an exhaust pipe of an Enterprise locomotive idling at Belfast Central

First Plus (2)

The second carriage in the enterprise is also the second first plus coach in the seven carriage train and has some differences to the first carriage. The coach has more passenger capacity then the first carriage and has 47 seats. These trains also have a unique number, between 9101–9104. They, like all the other carriages, have a special order, for example: the DVT 9002 goes with 9102. They have the same feature as the DVT with the same doors, and have first plus seats (no wheelchair space or luggage area) and weigh a total of 40 tonnes.

Future fleet

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) capable Class 222 DEMUs built for the British network became available as one of the possible options, which also included the procurement of additional 22000 Class DMUs as part of IÉ's order.[5] New rolling stock would most likely be a multiple unit rather than locomotive hauled, similar to IÉ's plans for Dublin-Cork services. This will remove the problems suffered by the 201 Class locomotives when using head-end power.

Future developments

Recent press reports have stated that NIR & IÉ plan to introduce a new hourly service.[6][7][8] This was reiterated in a statement by Conor Murphy, the Northern Ireland Minister for Regional Development, who stated that the two companies had made a presentation to the North/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 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; the surplus of rolling stock held by IÉ following the introduction of the 22000 Class DMUs could potentially be used to enhance the frequency of the Enterprise.[4] The line south of the border was upgraded to continuous welded rail in the 1990s, while NIR is making track improvements to allow an increase in speed.[11] Enterprise would require a minimum of seven trains to operate an hourly service – until 2013, IÉ had a significant number of stored Mark 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 has its "Gatwick" set that has also recently been converted to push-pull operation. The introduction of the 22000 Class has led to a surplus of locomotives that could be utilised. However, the major issue remains the capacity at Dublin Connolly, which is stretched.[12] The transfer of Commuter services to Docklands and the DART Underground should go some way to alleviating capacity issues. Plans have also been mooted to transfer Enterprise's northern terminus from Belfast Central to Belfast Great Victoria Street, which is more centrally located and is co-located with Europa Buscentre, providing an integrated rail/bus journey to all parts of the island.[12]

Criticism

In November 2007 the cross-border IBEC-CBI Joint Business Council, in a submission to the North/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.[13]

After years of saying the opposite, NIR has recently admitted that the train is so frequently broken down that it is no longer fit for purpose and requires £500 million investment to bring it up to an acceptable standard. Its average speed of 43 mph (69 km/h) makes it one of the slowest InterCity connections in Western Europe. With the faster road journey to Dublin and the Enterprise's unreliability and infrequency, it has been running at a loss as passengers switch to much cheaper and faster alternatives.[14]

Gallery

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enterprise (train service).
  1. ↑ Rowledge, J.W.P. (1995). Ireland. A Regional History of Railways XVI. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-63-X.
  2. ↑ NIR Enterprise timetable, effective 01/0/07
  3. ↑ "Translink NI". Translink NI. Retrieved 2014-11-13.
  4. 1 2 IRRS Journal 170
  5. ↑ IRRS Journal 157
  6. ↑ Irish Times , 15/09/07
  7. ↑ Dundalk Democrat, 15/08/07
  8. ↑ Dundalk Democrat, 19/09/07
  9. ↑ Hourly train service to Dublin is now on track – Belfast Telegraph, 03/03/08
  10. ↑ Top train 'needs £500m overhaul'
  11. ↑ Translink Capital Expenditure Plans – Translink
  12. 1 2 Flanagan, Colm (2010). "Optimism in Northern Ireland". Modern Railways 67 (737): 60–64.
  13. ↑ Belfast/Dublin rail link 'needs a radical upgrade' – Belfast Telegraph, 29/11/07
  14. ↑ Malachi O'Doherty: Free travel from Belfast to Dublin? Belfast Telegraph 23/5/08

NIR 201 Class No. 8208 on the Enterprise near Donabate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYw6jYEf3J8

External links

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