Why is the bus quicker than the train to Belfast?

reason vs religion

Hope this is an appropriate place to post. Just wondering why, when the train journey to Cork and Galway is as much as an hour quicker than the bus journey, the train journey to Belfast is 2hrs15 whereas an express bus service is 1hr50. Is it because of better roads and a more direct route?

Jamie2k9

reason vs religion wrote: »

Hope this is an appropriate place to post. Just wondering why, when the train journey to Cork and Galway is as much as an hour quicker than the bus journey, the train journey to Belfast is 2hrs15 whereas an express bus service is 1hr50. Is it because of better roads and a more direct route?

Commuter traffic either end and poor speeds once you cross the border.

devnull

reason vs religion wrote: »

Hope this is an appropriate place to post. Just wondering why, when the train journey to Cork and Galway is as much as an hour quicker than the bus journey, the train journey to Belfast is 2hrs15 whereas an express bus service is 1hr50. Is it because of better roads and a more direct route?

Whilst that bus service is timetabled to take 1hr 50 mins, it's a very ambitious timetable and is very rarely on time because of that and there are many reports of heavy delays on that route over the past few weeks because of it.

Even if I left now in the middle of the night and did the same route in a car which has higher speed limits, Google tells me that it will take 1hr 48 mins to complete the journey from their data.

Allow for lower speed limits for a coach and add in congestion and traffic that occurs at peak time and you will see that the timetable cannot be delivered consistently.

DundalkDuffman

Plus the train isn't going in a straight line like the roads are, serving Portadown always adds on the time.
That said the train is the only time efficient way to get to Belfast from Dundalk here, either go to Dublin airport or Newry to connect says the route planner !

reason vs religion

Thanks for the responses, guys. All very informative.

I had thought that the Belfast train leaves from Heuston, but, seeing as it actually leaves from Connolly, I guess it has to share the track with Darts and multi-stop regional services. And is that Portadown kink unique among Irish inter-city connections in making the bus a more direct route than the train!

Dublin Bus's Expressway service estimates a far more conservative (or realistic, as you'd say, devnull) 2hrs25 (albeit with stops along the way). I wonder can the 35-minute discrepancy between the two bus services be explained merely by a handful of stops (ten minutes extra journey time?) and a more accurate timetable? Either way, it would explain why Bus Eireann is struggling to compete with private operators, who are either quicker or duplicitous!

devnull

Journey times based on timetables on that route are as follows
400 Dublin Coach 1hr 50 mins (Belfast to Dublin City Non Stop)
705x Aircoach 2hr 10 mins (Belfast to Dublin City via Dublin Airport)
X1 Expressway 2hr 25 mins (Belfast to Dublin City via Sprucefield, Banbridge, Newry, Dublin Airport)

There's also an X2 between Dublin city and Belfast City via Dublin Airport only but it only services Belfast from Dublin City and not the other way around and only runs a handful of times per day.

Also since the Dublin to Belfast route is a cross-border one it is not regulated by either NI or ROI and is instead run on EU laws, so operators on that route have a pretty much free-hand like they do not on any routes within ROI/NI.

The fact that Dublin Coach leave pretty much the same time as Aircoach both ends of the route and from the same stop at the Belfast end probably is a reason that their timetable is timed the way it is - to make them look better than competition.

XPS_Zero

It might be slightly slower, but for the sake of that 15/20 minutes, by taking the train you get:

• Very comfortable seats
• The most comfortable train in Ireland
• Wifi that actually lasts (as opposed to Goldline coaches where it stops about 20 minutes after you get moving then just repeats back to the login page over and over and over)
• A first class option (for those so inclined) which comes with newspapers, OJ, free drinks refills, wet/hot towels etc
• A restaurant car and trolley service (hot food and drinks)
• The ability to get up and walk around, stretch your legs (I recommend heading into the restaurant car just for the views between Drougheda and Dundalk alone while drinking your coffee)
• Bathrooms (neither Bus Eireann nor Goldline have these)
• The ability to book a SPECIFIC seat / a seat at all (the BE booking systems kinda sloppy and you just get A seat not a specific seat)
• They've the on train host which (just my personal opinion) gives a little touch to the service I can't quite put into words..it's just nice when someone with a cheery voice gets on the intercom welcomes you aboard tells you where you'll be stopping says they're there for you if you need help..it's just nice...bus drivers are usually a-social and cranky.
• Intermediate stops breaking up the same journey on the same ticket are allowed.
• Any distance from the bang city centre is compensated for by an Enterprise ticket allow you free Dublin CC DART travel and free bus travel from train station to Belfast/Newry CC.
• Really good heating / air conditioning that's actually turned on
• If there are drunk loud people, unless they're particularly bad, you can move to another carriage, on a bus you're trapped.

bk

reason vs religion wrote: »

Hope this is an appropriate place to post. Just wondering why, when the train journey to Cork and Galway is as much as an hour quicker than the bus journey, the train journey to Belfast is 2hrs15 whereas an express bus service is 1hr50. Is it because of better roads and a more direct route?

Just to point out that coaches aren't an hour slower to Cork and Galway!

Dublin to Cork by Coach: 3h
Dublin to Cork by Train: 2h 35min to 2h 45min

But you have to take into account the time it takes you to get too and from Hueston (about 20 mins) versus the coach will drop you right next to O'Connell St. Obviously it depends where you are going, but IME I'm faster door to door by coach.

Dublin to Galway by Coach: 3h
Dublin to Galway by Train: 2h 20min ish

bk

To counter XPS_Zero arguments. As a person who use to regularly take the train to Cork, but now happily takes Aircoach/GoBE instead:

- Coaches have more comfortable seats then train. Often leather and recline. Train seats don't recline.
- Never once had problems with wifi on Aircoach. Coach companies were the first to offer free wifi. Irish Rail only introduced it years later.
- Aircoach and Dublin Coach coaches to Belfast have toilets.
- Never once seen drunk loud people on a coach. Seen it lots on trains, due to them serving alcohol on the train.
- I find coaches much quieter and more relaxing. Ride is smoother and quieter in my experience
- Lights turned off (low LED) so you can relax, rather then the bright lighting of IR
- No noisy announcements like you constantly get on the train.
- Seats recline, I know I said this earlier, but combined with all of the above it menas I can actually sleep on the coach, never could on the train.
- 24/7 operation, almost hourly departures, stumble out of a night club and get the coach (I've done it from Cork).
- Stops at Dublin Airport if you are heading there.

But here is the biggest difference cost.

Dublin Coach, just €10 return, IR €55 open return, €35 if you book WAY in advance with no flexibility!

reason vs religion

bk wrote: »

Just to point out that coaches aren't an hour slower to Cork and Galway!

Dublin to Cork by Coach: 3h
Dublin to Cork by Train: 2h 35min to 2h 45min

But you have to take into account the time it takes you to get too and from Hueston (about 20 mins) versus the coach will drop you right next to O'Connell St. Obviously it depends where you are going, but IME I'm faster door to door by coach.

Dublin to Galway by Coach: 3h
Dublin to Galway by Train: 2h 20min ish

Fair enough. I was recalling my last trip to Cork a few months ago on the X8 service which took 3h45. And maddeningly, when I realised that there were much quicker services, I wasn't entitled to return on a GoBE service, even though it would have been cheaper had I booked it originally.

bk

reason vs religion wrote: »

Fair enough. I was recalling my last trip to Cork a few months ago on the X8 service which took 3h45. And maddeningly, when I realised that there were much quicker services, I wasn't entitled to return on a GoBE service, even though it would have been cheaper had I booked it originally.

GoBE isn't really a BE service. It is really a private service operated by GoBus who have the route license. They just use the BE stations and co-brand with BE. That is why you couldn't transfer to them.

You aren't the first person I've heard making this mistake. My friend did the same a few weeks ago!