Enterprise

The Dublin to Belfast route is 113½ miles long. Our journey begins at Dublin’s Connolly Station. For the first few miles we proceed through the rapidly re-generating suburbs under the wires of the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit).

At Malahide we leave the wires behind us as our train runs over a magnificent causeway and alongside the sea at Skerries.

Drogheda is the first stop. Back in 1845 trains could go no further until the wide River Boyne was bridged by a large viaduct completed a whole ten years later. Now you can see the box girder viaduct from the cab (and from the air) . The next stop is Dundalk, following which we face a similar long drag to that on the Settle and Carlisle line in England. Now we cross the border into Northern Ireland calling first at Newry.

Immediately beyond the utilitarian station we cross Craigmore viaduct - Ireland’s highest. The scenery is no less spectacular as the line meanders through Poyntzpass. The final intermediate stop is at Portadown, now we have a free run all the way into Belfast Central.

This is a route of great interest with double line throughout. Our 90 mile an hour express was filmed mostly in sunshine. Much of the history of this interesting and scenic route is related by TV personality Henry Kelly.