The UK's last nationalised railway (Northern Ireland Railways NIR (NI Railways))

Member Name: jamesontheroad

Product:	Northern Ireland Railways NIR (NI Railways)
Date:	13/03/08 (49 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Improving timetables, improving reliability, comfortable new trains

Disadvantages: Still patchy service to the north-west

If you're not local to Northern Ireland, you may not know that there still exists in the UK a non-privatised passenger railway. And it's one of NI's best kept secrets.

Years... no, decades of severe underinvestment and infrastructural issues caused by the Troubles lead to NIR being in a very bad state at the start of the nineties. The network had shrunk to just a few routes: the Portadown - Belfast - Bangor corridor, the Belfast - Larne line, the Belfast - Antrim - Ballymena - Coleraine - L'derry line, and the Coleraine - Portrush branch. Trains were a mixture of old diesel multiple units and very old diesel multiple units.

To cut a long but gradual story short, the Peace Process and the rapid arrival of development funds from local, national and European sources has helped NIR and their parent Translink enormously. A steady programme of infrastructural work has improved the safety and reliability of trains and tracks, first in and around Belfast and now on routes further afield.

Although a handful of slam door trains (from the 1960s) remain, and a fleet of unreliable eighties' suburban trains remains, the majority of the NIR fleet now consists of brand new Spanish built trains, which offer superb comfort, increased security and improved timetables. An order has recently been announced for more trains to replace the older fleets completely. The Belfast - L'derry line is also scheduled for track work to raise speed limits and perhaps allow for passing loops to increase services. As it stands the train is significantly slower between Ulster's two biggest cities than the competing Goldline bus service.

If you're visiting Northern Ireland, you should make the time to travel along the beautiful line from Coleraine to L'derry. And if you're arriving by plane at Belfast City Airport, consider using the free request shuttle to Sydenham station, which is just outside the airport, from where you can catch direct trains to Belfast Central (5 minutes), Bangor (20 minutes) and many other stations.

So, NIR is getting better, and passenger numbers are rising. Commuting is increasingly popular on the train, and tourists too and benefiting from improved timetables and better trains.

Summary: Worth considering along with numerous Ulsterbus routes for a car-free holiday in Northern Ireland