Operated jointly by Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) and Translink (Northern Ireland Railways) is the premium InterCity train connecting the two capitals of Northern Ireland and Ireland respectively, Belfast and Dublin. This train is the Enterprise.
The Enterprise concept dates back as early as 1947, introduced to compete with air and road travel. Fast-forward to today and the service continues to be operated by purpose-built train carriages built by French company, De Dietrich Ferroviaire (now Alstom) in 1997. These carriages may be familiar to some as they are based on the original e300 Eurostar carriages that run between London and Paris / Brussels through the Channel Tunnel!
I took a trip on the Enterprise for the full route from Belfast Lanyon Place to Dublin Connolly in December 2023.
2025 update: the Enterprise has relocated to depart and arrive from the new Belfast Grand Central station instead of Lanyon Place.
Here is the route map of the Enterprise and its calling points: Belfast, Portadown, Newry, Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin.
Departure from Belfast Lanyon Place
Belfast Lanyon Place, known as Belfast Central in a previous life, won’t win any prizes for the most attractive station. Honestly, it isn’t a place to spend much time in if you can help it. The station is small and facilities are very limited, and the 1976 building itself is nothing to write home about. There is a booking office, a café and a small concourse and three platforms.
For the Enterprise, there was a queuing system in place in the middle of the concourse. Initially it wasn’t clear what the queue was for which could’ve easily been for the booking office, but once I’d realised nobody was moving, it was self explanatory that it was for boarding the Enterprise. Approximately twenty minutes prior to departure, the gates opened for Platform 2 – Enterprise boarding had commenced.
The journey between Belfast and Dublin is an interesting one. There is no physical border on the island of Ireland which means you can travel seamlessly between Belfast and Dublin without any passport or ID checks.
Onboard the Enterprise
After the underwhelming station experience, it was a pleasure to board the Enterprise which felt like a world apart. The Enterprise itself is unique in its composition. The train is formed of a British-Canadian Class 201 locomotive and French carriages. There is also a carriage with no windows – this is the control car, introduced later to support the locomotive in providing power to the carriages – presumably after some power cuts!
On the platform, the features of the Eurostar e300, that the train is based on, can be clearly seen with the doors and the coach profile.
The Enterprise train has two classes of accommodation – Enterprise Plus, the equivalent of First Class, and Standard Class accommodation. There is also an onboard Café Car.
There is a friendly ambience onboard the Enterprise with the majority leisure passengers on the 10:35 departure from Belfast. Everybody seemed to know the Train Manager, asking her when she was finishing for Christmas.
Standard Class Accommodation
Seats in Standard Class on the Enterprise are in a 2+2 configuration and are mostly situated around tables of four – never a good option if you have long legs. I always prefer airline style seats! The seats themselves are reasonably comfortable and have power sockets available on the wall underneath the windows.
Seat reservations are available on the Enterprise, however, they are not required. On booking, unique to travel in Ireland, you can opt to have your name displayed on the seat reservation panel above the windows or instead your booking reference number. This surely makes finding seats simple, however, the whole carriage knows what you name is which is a little weird.
Catering is available throughout the train with Standard Class accommodation having access to the Café Car and trolley service.
Enterprise Plus Accommodation
Enterprise Plus accommodation is the First Class equivalent on the Enterprise train. The carriage has a stylish interior with seats arranged around tables of one, two and four arranged in a more spacious configuration of 2+1, compared to Standard accommodation. The seats are very comfortable and recline, though, strangely, the recline applies the whole seat with it rocking forwards and backwards – nevertheless this didn’t compromise on comfort.
Originally holding a ticket for Standard Class, we upgraded on the day to Enterprise Plus by speaking to the Train Manager on the platform at Belfast. Her only requirement was that we sat in seats with a green light, confirming this spontaneous upgrade is subject to space being available on the day. The fee was only £17.00, which is my opinion, is totally worth it.
A secondary benefit in Enterprise Plus is the catering service served directly to your seat. This commenced as soon as we departed from Belfast. One of the two onboard hosts serving First Class came down armed with a tray of orange juice, apple juice and water, a choice for each passenger. Next, a menu was provided for food orders.
The meals served in Enterprise Plus are freshly cooked and are too good to miss! Yes, these come at an additional charge, but are priced reasonably, especially for a captive market onboard a train. My ‘Full Irish’ breakfast, similar to the ‘Full English’ but served with a potato scone instead of a hash brown, was served with toast and a choice between a pot of tea or filter coffee. There was no soda bread, however! Any speciality coffees came at an additional charge. Something I hadn’t seen for a while was a sole sausage being disguised as two sausages, having been cut longitudinally!
The breakfast, which was delicious, came to a total of £10.00 – a true bargain. I didn’t feel at all cheated by the sausage situation considering the overall value. The onboard food did prove to be a hit with most passengers in the carriage, with plenty of trays going up and down the aisle. It’s worth noting these trays are long and the staff bringing down one tray per hand on a moving train must have been an art.
The same service with complimentary juice or water and breakfast service was provided to customers joining at intermediate stations en-route, not just those travelling the full route as we were.
The service concluded by the arrival of the bill and the card machine – cash accepted too. At the same time, a hot towel was provided to mark the end of the service as we arrived into Dublin Connolly.
Café Car
The Enterprise has its own Café Car with its own dedicated seating area for Standard Class passengers. The seats appear to have been added later in the train’s life, as the windows in this carriage were situated particularly high which makes the seats look very low. The high windows are better than nothing with a chance to see the sky anyway. This is similar to the original Eurostar sets which are a standing bar only.
Passengers are not able to walk through the train between Enterprise Plus and the Café Car and Standard Class. In order to get photos, I needed to quickly re-board the train!
Prices in the Café Car and trolley service are reasonable for a train with a cappuccino costing £2.95 / €3.55.
Scenery
The Enterprise is a pretty scenic journey with rolling hills for much of the journey. There are also views of the Irish Sea at the Dublin end of the route. See my YouTube video below for the scenic highlights of the trip.
At one point of the trip the Enterprise was racing a tractor which I captured in the video! The speed of the Enterprise isn’t the quickest with the top speed of 90 miles per hour (144 kilometres per hour). I’m pleased to report the Enterprise did eventually overtake the tractor.
Arrival at Dublin Connolly
After a trip of two hours and five minutes, the Enterprise arrived into Dublin Connolly on time – one of the busiest stations in Ireland which originally opened in 1844. The train was so comfortable I could’ve stayed on the Enterprise for much longer! If only the route was extended to other parts of Ireland!
Booking and Fares
Tickets can only be purchased from the operator where the train starts its journey. This means if your journey starts in Belfast, you can only purchase from Translink (Northern Ireland Railways). If your journey starts in Dublin, tickets can only be purchased from Iarnród Éireann. Tickets can be purchased online from the relevant operator – Translink and Iarnród Éireann. If you’re purchasing a return this can be made in one booking.
Tickets are available 90 days in advance from Iarnród Éireann and one month in advance from Translink. Tickets are reasonably priced on the Enterprise anyway, but it can often be cheaper to purchase a Standard Class ticket and then upgrade to First Class. This is available online for Iarnród Éireann, simply book your ticket in Standard Class and book the same train again choosing the “Free Travel Pass or Valid Ticket” on the Iarnród Éireann website. Otherwise an upgrade is possible on the day for £17.00 each way from the conductor, subject to space being available.
| Journey Leg | Standard Class | First Class | Standard to First Class Upgrade |
| Belfast to Dublin (Translink website) | From £11.99 each way | £48.00 each way | Available onboard the train from the conductor +£17.00 each way (subject to availability) |
| Dublin to Belfast (Iarnród Éireann website) | From €13.99 each way | €31.99 each way | Available online at +€16.00 by selecting “Free Travel Pass or Valid Ticket” in the booking engine query or available from the conductor on the train (subject to availability). |
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Conclusion
The Enterprise is arguably the best train on the island of Ireland. The train is comfortable and the services offered onboard are high quality and reasonably priced. The ‘Full Irish’ breakfast was delicious. The ticket price is also very reasonable and the upgrade to Enterprise Plus is well worth it in my opinion. The best way to travel between Belfast and Dublin!
This travel report was first published in January 2024.
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Please get in touch if you have any feedback on this travel report by liking and sharing your thoughts below in the comments section. Have you made a similar trip? Please do share your own experiences on the rails.
Great report. Thanks!
Great Service on train. Lovely staff and nice and clean.
Great to hear!
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