I travelled from Dublin to Belfast on the Enterprise!

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]Hey everyone, Gil loves trains here. You join me outside of Dublin Connley station today where I'm getting ready to have a ride on an intercity crossber train that's operated jointly by road and Northern Ireland Railways. It is of course the Enterprise. I am going to be traveling all the way up to Belfast on this and I am also going to be doing so in first class. I'm very much looking forward to this journey. Let's go crack on with it.

[00:00:38]I just need to collect me ticket.

[00:00:43]The train is up on the screen now. It's the 1250 Belfast service and I have still got like 50 minutes to wait before departure. So it looks as though I don't need to go through the ticket barriers as there are these separate doors here with Enterprise written on the top of them. So going to head through there and that's me train there. You can see the DVT at the rear end here.

[00:01:06]Thank you.

[00:01:08]Just show me ticket and I have been guided into this waiting room here. I shouldn't be sitting here for too long.

[00:01:15]The train departs in like 20 minutes.

[00:01:18]But these seats as well in this waiting room. They're in a zigzag. So basically, I'm like in the middle when it comes to the order of boarding, but I'm not too fussed about getting on the train first because I have a reserve seat and it's the kind of seat I love. It's a solo seat. And we are now boarding with 15 minutes to go. The train is being hauled by a class 2011 diesel loco. I'll have a look at it once I get off in Belfast.

[00:01:45]Um, and there are seven coaches. Two are first class A and B, and it's coach B that I'm after.

[00:01:57]Wow. This first class coach is absolutely beautiful. Honestly, it might be the best looking first class I have ever seen. But yeah, I am in your reserve seat now. When I bought me tickets on the Irish Rail website, there was a manual seat selection. So I use that and I chose myself of course a solo seat. I went for number eight and it is also on the right hand side of the train in the direction of travel. So happy days. I get to see the coastal views.

[00:02:25]Got me own table. It is quite a slim one. Then got a plug socket here. An armrest with some buttons on it. Well that is a recline one. I can feel the seat going up behind me. And the seat itself has got this black and gray color scheme with a red enterprise plus anti-makasar.

[00:02:44]But yeah, I think enterprise plus might be the name of this first class. It did just say first class on me ticket. Happy days. There's a nicarok up there. Got the reservation display. Overhead luggage space. I'm trying to figure out how this recline works cuz I pressed the top button and the seat moves upwards.

[00:03:05]But then when I let go, it just goes back down.

[00:03:09]I don't know what the bottom button does. Oh, the bottom button just shoves it right back down. Even faster. Don't know how you actually keep it up.

[00:03:19]No, it's it's just staying like that.

[00:03:22]Thank you very much.

[00:03:25]It's 12:50 now. The doors are closing.

[00:03:28]We are about to depart and just been given a glass of water. I have a feeling this might be the only drink I get for free on this train.

[00:03:40]I'll enjoy it.

[00:03:45]>> May I have your attention please? Once again, we would like to welcome you on board this 1250 service from Dublin Connley to Belfast France central. The service will call at Draada, Dundo, Nuri, Portown, and Belfast Grand Central.

[00:04:00]>> Thank you for your attention and we hope you have a pleasant journey. Thank you.

[00:04:07]>> And we're off. It's going to take 2 hours and 8 minutes to get to Belfast.

[00:04:11]Now, I've just been handed a menu. Let's have a look at this. So, we got breakfast items here and then lunch.

[00:04:26]light bites and beverages.

[00:04:30]Okay, so I have been wanting to ride the Enterprise for a while now, but I was having to put it off because I saw that there were no vegan options on the menu and I did want to have some dinner on the train. But when I was booking this trip, I had another look at the menu and I was like, "Yes, I can finally ride it cuz there's something on there I can eat." From looking at the menu I've been handed here though, it does seem I must have downloaded an old menu online.

[00:04:57]Honestly, what am I like? So anyway, I have just asked the host if there is anything vegan and they said they go and have a look for me. I love the carpet on this train, too. It's very clean on here. There is onboard Wi-Fi.

[00:05:23]And we are just passing the Malahide estry on the broad meadow vioaduct.

[00:05:28]I did come to take a look at the vioaduct the other day when I rode the darts to Malahide.

[00:05:49]So to drink, I've gone for a Coke Zero.

[00:05:51]You do have to pay for the drinks as well as the food on here, apart from the water. And then for dinner, the host, well, one of the hosts, there's two first class hosts on here, the one who's serving the food and drink. They've just been down offering me a choice of three things, right? Get this. The first one was a bag of popcorn. The second was it was either one or two flat jacks in a packet. And the third was a hazelnut bar.

[00:06:18]And then they said, "Which one would you like?" So, I've gone for the hazelnut bar. Yeah, I'm going to just have to overlook the food situation on here. But it's a good job. I'm really impressed with this first class coach. And I think there's some sea views coming up now.

[00:06:41]Cheers.

[00:06:56]And after leaving Drogoda, we are now crossing the river Boone on the Bo vioaduct.

[00:07:04]Wow, it's a cracking view that isn't it?

[00:07:14]Here's what clusters they are.

[00:07:27]Lovely. I enjoyed those. I will be getting some hot food in Belfast though.

[00:07:32]£450 I just paid for that drink and snack.

[00:07:36]Could have got a B deal for cheaper.

[00:07:46]>> We are now approaching Dund.

[00:07:53]>> I love how the announcements on here are snappy and right to the point. They don't drag on at all. They're easy to vlog when you're not being interrupted by announcements constantly.

[00:08:14]And we are now crossing the border from Ireland into the UK.

[00:08:21]And we have also now entered into the Ring of Gullian area of outstanding natural beauty.

[00:08:36]just been handed a warm towel.

[00:08:39]I don't know if it's for your hands or your face, but I'm going to use it for both.

[00:08:44]Oh, it smells very fresh.

[00:09:02]We're just leaving the penultimate stop of Porter Down, which means I've got just 24 minutes left on here.

[00:09:13]Oh my days, Coach A is completely empty.

[00:09:16]You got some wheelchair space here, four-seater tables, two-seater tables, and then of course sold seats. And I'll tell you what, all the seats are brilliantly aligned with the windows, too.

[00:09:37]And this is what the toilets look like on it.

[00:09:49]So to ride this Enterprise train today from Dublin to Belfast, there were three standard class furs, low, semiflexible, and flexible. The low one was £13.99.

[00:10:01]But for first class, I paid £3350.

[00:10:05]So that's an upgrade price of £19.51.

[00:10:09]But would I choose to travel first class on the Enterprise again? You know what?

[00:10:13]I probably would because like I say, this coach is honestly beautiful and I love me solo seats. Me. I probably would bring me own food and drink though if I was to do this again, just in case.

[00:10:35]>> Thank you for traveling with Enterprise today. We hope you have a pleasant onward journey.

[00:10:56]and here I am at Belfast Grand Central Station. I think we arrived in pretty much on time at 1458. maybe a minute late or something. But anyways, I am very excited to be seeing this station for the first ever time because it is still pretty new. Um, it wasn't open yet the last time I was in Belfast. It opened on the 13th of October, 2024, replacing Great Victoria Street Station.

[00:11:21]It's run by Translink. It's got eight platforms and it's also integrated with the Buzzes.

[00:11:33]And I can finally get a look at the loco now.

[00:11:44]Yep. Grand is the word.

[00:11:53]Oh my days. It is windy here. But jeez, what is going on with the weather today? Oh my days.

[00:12:03]But anyways, I absolutely loved that ride. The Enterprise staff were friendly, the scenery. Wow. I mean, there was pretty much everything out of the window, weren't there? Really?

[00:12:13]Flowing water, greenery, hills. Yeah.

[00:12:16]And it all. And as I'm saying for the third time, that first class coach, oh, it's got to be the best one I've ever been in. That I would absolutely love to sit in there some more, I tell you. R, I'm going to get out of this wind and rain and well, go and get some dinner.

[00:12:32]Thank you very much for watching, everyone. Fy.

[00:12:36]Oh, bless Pig Welly's screens all wet.

[00:12:39]Go on. Let's get you out the rain. Jeez.