The Belfast–Dublin Main Line is a main and busiest

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

route on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

that connects

Dublin Connolly station Connolly station ( ga, Stáisiún Uí Chonghaile) or Dublin Connolly is one of the busiest railway stations in Dublin and Ireland, and is a focal point in the Irish route network. On the North side of the River Liffey, it provides InterC ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and Belfast Lanyon Place station in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

. It is the only railway line that crosses the

Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border The Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, sometimes referred to as the Irish border or British–Irish border, runs for Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, 1999

History

The railway line was built by three separate companies. In 1837 the

Ulster Railway The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). History The Ulster Railway was aut ...

began building a railway line between

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

and

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with th ...

, which was extended in stages to

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

in 1842 and as far as Clones by 1863. The

Dublin and Drogheda Railway Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) was a railway company in Ireland which publicly opened its 31¾ mile main line between Dublin and Drogheda in May 1844. It was the third railway company in Ireland to operate passenger trains and the first to us ...

(D&D) built the line between

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

. The Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway (D&B Jct) linked the Dublin and Drogheda with the Ulster Railway at

. 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) The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments ...

(GNRI). The

partition of Ireland The partition of Ireland ( ga, críochdheighilt na hÉireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided History of Ireland (1801–1923), Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northe ...

in 1922 meant that the

Irish border Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

passed between

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

, 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 Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

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 The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran rail and bus transport in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. Formation and consolidation The UTA was formed by the Transport Act 1948, which merged the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board (NIRTB ...

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 Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

and the link to Dublin. In 1970 the newly formed

NI Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose paren ...

bought new locomotives and rolling stock for the Belfast–Dublin ''Enterprise'' service as well as new

diesel multiple units A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are als ...

for local services.

Upgrades

In 2000, the government of the

developed a

National Development Plan National Development Plan (NDP, ga, Plean Forbartha Náisiúnta) was the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on (mainly) national infrastructure. The first five-year plan ran from 1988 to 1993, ...

, 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 A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers ...

, 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 Iarnród Éireann () or Irish Rail, is the operator of the national Rail transport in Ireland, railway network of Ireland. Established on 2 February 1987, it is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ). It operates all internal In ...

to operate a revamped Enterprise service along with the new Class 201 locomotives.

High-speed rail proposal

In 2020 the Irish Government confirmed it will be launching a study into an approximately 500 km high-speed railway from

via

to Cork and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, which could cost around €15 billion.

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 The Belfast–Newry line (known as the ''Portadown line'' by NI Railways) operates from station in County Antrim to Newry in County Down, Northern Ireland. The manager for this line is based at Portadown railway station, although the line ex ...

) between Belfast and Lisburn,

and

, while IE operates its Commuter services between Dublin and Dundalk as part of the

Dublin Suburban Rail The Dublin Suburban Rail ( ga, Iarnród Bruachbhailteach Baile Átha Cliath) network, branded as DART/ Commuter, is a railway network that serves the city of Dublin, Ireland, most of the Greater Dublin Area and outlying towns. The system is ma ...

network. In addition, the line between Dublin Connolly and

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

is electrified and forms part of the

DART Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * D ...

network. One early morning weekday IÉ Commuter stopping service also operates from

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 Dublin Port ( ga, Calafort Átha Cliath) is the seaport of Dublin, Ireland, of both historical and contemporary economic importance. Approximatively two-thirds of Ireland's port traffic travels via the port, which is by far the busiest on t ...

for the

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port– Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin ...

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

to Holyhead and then by train along the

North Wales Coast Line The North Wales Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru), also known as the North Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or cy, label=none, Prif Linell y Gogledd), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire ...

London Euston Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...

and other destinations in England and Wales. *Dublin to Belfast intercity Monday to Saturday 8 trains in each direction Sunday 5 trains in each direction

Simulation

The route has been released as a commercial add on for

Microsoft Train Simulator ''Microsoft Train Simulator'' is a 2001 train simulator developed for Microsoft Windows. It was released on May 31, 2001, and developed by the UK-based company Kuju Entertainment. It sold one million units worldwide by 2005. Features Microsof ...

by Making Tracks. It was released in two sections, part one covering Lanyon Place to Dundalk, with part two covering the section from Dundalk to Dublin. It is set during the 2000s.

References

External links

Irish Rail Dublin Connolly Station Website

Dublin - Belfast - Dublin Mainline timetable

Dublin - Dundalk - Dublin Suburban timetable

Newry - Belfast - Bangor Suburban timetable

Bangor - Belfast - Newry Suburban timetable
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfast-Dublin Line Railway lines in Ireland Railway lines in Northern Ireland Great Northern Railway (Ireland) Transport in Belfast Transport in County Antrim Transport in County Down Transport in County Armagh International railway lines Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border crossings Irish gauge railways 5 ft 3 in gauge railways