Travel

The past, present and future of cross-border rail

| Readers 4483
Enterprise crossing Craigmore Viaduct near Bessbrook

Recently, to great fanfare, the Irish government announced an €800m funding package in support of its Shared Island strategy aimed at funding public spending on projects in Northern Ireland. The lion’s share of the spend is on the A5 project, and that, together with Casement, is where most of the media attention went. However, there is also an allocation aimed at increasing the frequency of cross border rail services. Before looking at this in detail we should talk a little …

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Fix climate change and congestion with better buses

| Readers 1653

A recent job change, for me, led to a minor conundrum associated with the loss of a free city centre parking space. I could either continue to drive to work and pay for all day parking (£7 is the lowest price I’m aware of) or I could use the bus. I opted for the bus.  The Antrim Road area, where I live, is quite well served by the Metro 1 route. Using the “Belfast Bus Tracker” third party app (App …

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Equalising rail fares – balancing the books but at what cost?

| Readers 1946

Once upon a long ago – I think way back in the 1990s – I looked at the fares from Belfast Central to every station on the network.  In those days, the Great Northern branch line from Knockmore to Antrim was still open, and I found a few surprises. Chiefly, that Bangor, 13 miles from Belfast Central, had the same fare as Whitehead (15 miles away) and Crumlin (a lot further).  Granted, Crumlin had an unusual fare because the fare …

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Connecting the North West

| Readers 4774

Derry and Donegal are not only marginalised by their geographic position on the periphery of the island of Ireland, but they are also very badly served by the transport infrastructure. They are not alone in this: there are similar complaints from Sligo, Fermanagh and elsewhere in the West. After a long campaign, parts of the A6 road between Derry and Belfast have been upgraded – though it is still not a dual carriageway between Dungiven and Castledawson. It was back …

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Flaming July – the evidence is clear that climate change is happening…

| Readers 1808
trees on fire

Only the most devoted conspiracy theorist could deny climate change given the devastating events of recent weeks. Spring was marked by deadly fires in Canada, terrible floods in Northern Italy and even an unfamiliar heatwave in Northern Ireland. Now things have got even more deadly, with awful new fire outbreaks in Greece, Italy Algeria and Tunisia. And a severe worsening of ice melting in the Antarctic. Meanwhile, the drought and loss of agricultural land in the Horn of Africa is …

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All Island Rail Review has been published – but will it hit the buffers?

| Readers 3738
Regional and rural interventions rail map from All Island Rail Review

Yes, I’m cynical.  You can’t entirely blame me. There is some great stuff in the All-Island Rail Review, published on Tuesday, including some blue sky thinking.  The summary, with my annotations, is below. Short term and decarbonisation Electrify remainder of Belfast-Dublin line, Belfast-Bangor, Dublin-Cork/Galway/Limerick/Waterford (both companies were already working on plans to abolish diesel traction, but NIR I think also intends to electrify the Larne, Portrush and Derry/Londonderry (hereafter referred to as Derry) lines) Increase line speeed to 100mph (currently …

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Meithal in Malafia…

| Readers 1530
Traditional Portuguese dessert pastel de nata on black background

North of Porto, on the Caminho da Costa, the boardwalk creaks and sways to the slap of September feet as we gather each other up like strays into the community of the Road. Gerry from Dublin, ‘Just had to get back.’ His Camino Frances, two years ago, ‘was full of special people and places.’
He finds it strange that, as a member of the Irish Humanist Society, he’s drawn to the Camino. ‘I suppose religion is still lodged in us somewhere.’
He …

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Pilgrim and Tourist – in North West Spain…

| Readers 1655
Taken in Valldemossa

Close now to places I walked through last year. A glimpse of riverside willows racing past the car’s window, then the Puente Santa Maria. A year gone in a flash, like the swallows skimming the road ahead. Too soon they’ll leave, towing the dreams of summer south. Time speeding up even as it counts down. Summers’ shortening, gone like the bluebirds. Leaving us with our Celtic quandary – that of souls riven by a deep love of home and yet …

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The untapped tourist potential of Tyrone…

| Readers 4333
Ulster American Folk Park

Having recovered from being effectively a no-go area for tourists for the best part of three decades Northern Ireland now has much to offer the discerning visitor. Although I seem to be one of the few people on the planet who have never seen Game Of Thrones, the show seems to have worked wonders for the local tourist industry now that places like the Dark Hedges and the Giants Causeway have become popular must-see destinations. There are of course the …

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Going anywhere nice for your holidays? How about the back garden?

| Readers 14959
Greenhouse with colorful folding chair

So where are you off to on your holidays? Given the massive price increases of hotels and flights, the answer might be your back garden. We were away the other week in the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone. It was a nice trip, just not sure it was €300 per night nice which is the price you will pay for one room for 2 adults and 1 child during the summer. I thought it was just a case of price …

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Oman: A visitor’s eye…

| Readers 661

The moment we met I knew that God and Allah shared a single light First impressions count and a moment of beauty can remain in the memory, to be shared and enjoyed forever. This moment for me came during my first visit to Oman a few years ago when I arrived into the country at nightfall and en route to my hotel encountered the breathtaking Mohammed Al Ameen Mosque, majestically overseeing the capital city of Muscat. It was not long …

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The increase in used car prices…

| Readers 3319
vw, golf, gti

I was dandering through Charles Hurst the other week when my eye was drawn to a Smart ForTwo for sale. It was 6 years old but it was on sale for nearly 10 grand! Turns out those Smart Cars are over 20k new, who knew? I quite liked the original Smart Car concept but the revamped model divides opinion shall we say. They get very average reviews and you can buy a Polo from 15k or the Kia Picanto from …

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Tourism spend by southern visitors to NI was up 151%….

| Readers 3572
ireland, dunlunce castle, northern ireland

The Belfast Telegraph reports on the boost to NI Tourism by increasing visitors from the South: Tourism NI said it had found major growth in expenditure after analysing cardholder spend by people visiting from over the border. During June to September, total tourism spend by southerners was up 151% on the same time in 2019, while hotel spending using cards was up by the same level. And spending by southern visitors in bars and taverns had tripled, Tourism NI said, …

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The ‘circle line’ proposal for Greater Belfast…

| Readers 4625

Anyone familiar with the Black Mountain and Cave Hill walking trails will know that the city of Belfast is cut off from urban sprawl to its immediate west and north west. This does not mean that the communities at either side of these hills are cut off from one another. To the contrary in fact, the greater Belfast commuter belt takes in the communities from these hills to Lough Neagh in an increasingly service driven economy where Belfast has become …

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Ireland commits to funding Enterprise replacement from 2027 – what about NI?

| Readers 2280

The Irish National Development Plan is a long document, and I have had little time to do more than skim it, but the key headline spotted by Jonny McCambridge and noted by Mick, one of the concrete proposals in the plan, is the replacement for the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise service by 2027. The branded Enterprise service was introduced by the Great Northern Railway in 1947, and at one time was extended to Cork.  NIR relaunched its side of the service in …

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People need to want to go to Belfast City Centre, not be forced to…

| Readers 2439

As the Chief Executive of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, it is Simon Hamilton’s job to fight for the success of Belfast City Centre. In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, he warned that working from home could turn central Belfast into a ghost town. For those of us who grew up during the troubles, this was the default state of the city centre for decades. Great coverage in today’s @BelTel of @BelfastChamber’s ‘Returning to the Office’ survey. The findings …

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Translink to bring back a trial of later bus services

| Readers 564

Translink Chief Executive, Chris Conway has responded to a tweet saying that the company will be resuming a trial of late night bus services. Responding to SDLP Councillor, Seamas DeFaoite he said; A range of later night services were trialled in 2019 but Covid19 did stall any further plans, we’ll start trials again in Nov/Dec as part of recovery. — Chris Conway (@CEOTranslink_NI) August 18, 2021   The transport provider has been trialing this during the latte part of 2019 …

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The tricky task of getting home after a night out…

| Readers 3517
bar, lounge, cocktail

A friend went out for a meal and some drinks in Belfast City Centre on Saturday night. Being a sensible fella he left the bar about 11 pm to head home to his house in the Four Winds area of Belfast. Unfortunately for him, he missed the last bus home by a few minutes. Not a problem he thought, he would ring one of our big two taxi companies – an hour later, still no taxi. At this point, he …

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Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) Phase 2 announced

| Readers 6259

This week, Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon launched the public consultation for Phase 2 of the Belfast Rapid Transit (Glider) system.  I think this is a welcome development and will improve connectivity, access to and uptake of public transport in the city.  I remember when Glider was first launched on the east/west route a few years ago. Before it got off the ground, it was fashionable to dump on it (a common pattern for public transport projects on this island). …

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Reimagining Enniskillen…

| Readers 6306

I am just back from a short break in sunny Fermanagh. As my main photo shows, when the sun is shining there are few places more beautiful. Fermanagh has massive potential to increase tourism, it could be a real growth industry for an area that has had its economic issues in the past. I had some thoughts I wanted to share about the main town Enniskillen. These are only my impressions as a visitor; I would appreciate input from locals. …

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