Commuting from Dundalk - Belfast

holidaysong

Hi all,

I have tried Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Translink sites and it doesn't seem to be possible to commute from Dundalk to Belfast to arrive in Belfast for 9am is this right?

HelgaWard

http://getthere.ie/carshare-7274

Might still be available!

dodgystats

Hi,

I am in the same position(I opened a thread in Commuting and Transport yesterday) and it does not seems like its possible to get there before 9 via public transport(Going from the comments posted). The best way seems to be from Newry where there is Rail and Bus services which get you to Belfast before 9 am. We also tried to contact the person via GetThere but I do not think its valid anymore.

Sheldons Brain

It is truly odd that there is no public transport south of Newry that allows people reach Belfast by 09:00 as there must a market for this.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

It is truly odd that there is no public transport south of Newry that allows people reach Belfast by 09:00 as there must a market for this.

That's just it. There isn't sufficient demand for it.

Stheno

Elise Fresh Crown wrote: »

That's just it. There isn't sufficient demand for it.

Only option is the aircoach or Bus Eireann from Dublin airport

The trains don't get in until twenty to ten

holidaysong

I've pretty much exhausted all options here too, very strange but as previous poster says there simply just mustn't be enough demand.

Oiriallach

I know there are people from Dundalk who drive to Newry to catch an early train (06.55 or 07.35) to Belfast and I've also heard of people driving to Belfast daily. There are also bus options from Newry (Translink/Goldline and the Eamonn Rooney service).

Traffic is normally very heavy going into Belfast in the morning from before the Hillsborough roundabout (e.g. 35 mins from Dundalk to Hillsborough + 50 mins from Hillsborough to Odyssey Arena/Titanic Quarter). It's similar leaving Belfast in the evening until you clear the Sprucefield junction.

Demand is probably low at the moment, but maybe if there were commuter-friendly train/bus services from Dundalk to Belfast, people from in and around the town would be quicker to seek work in Belfast. There's lots from Dundalk working in Dublin which is the same distance away.

Having said that, some of the Dublin-Belfast Bus Éireann/Goldline express buses used to serve Dundalk up until a few years ago, as did the Aircoach service, but none of them stop in Dundalk any more. Don't know what demand was like when they did stop in Dundalk, but they seem to have decided to focus on providing faster journey times between Dublin and Belfast.

not1but4

Yeah I had a same problem when I started working in Belfast. There was a bus at the time operated by Bus Éireann/Ulster Bus that used to pick up in Dundalk but they got rid of that soon after I started using it (got told at the kiosk one day "that bus doesn't stop in Dundalk anymore"). Also the timetables were massively incorrect and it had me 30 minutes late on my first day despite the timetable saying I would be in for half 8. Think they stopped operating it due to AirCoach taking all their business away.

The only option was to drive to Newry train station and get the Belfast train to have me in for 9am. I then moved up there as it was just too much hassle trying to commute everyday.

NeonCookies

I'm planning this commute from Dundalk to Belfast from September. Was just looking into the Park&Ride facilities (on translink.co.uk) along the way, mainly due to difficulty finding parking in the city and the expense of that. Was looking at parking at either the Sprucefield or Blacks Road facilities - does anyone have any experience of these? Would I be looking at about an hour to get into the bus station from Dundalk?

Luckily my commute won't be every day as I will have placements in different areas, I know it will be tiring!