Which bus operator has the most comfortable coaches Dublin-Belfast?

AngryLips

Need to get there early morning so the train timetable doesn't suit

devnull

Aircoach and Dublin Coach certainly have the most leg-room. Very little between them in that on this route.

Aircoach has cross border Wifi and USB Sockets for charging, don't have seat back tables or a toilet though. They run 22 times a day and leave from O'Connell Street

Dublin Coach have ROI only Wifi and don't have USB sockets, but they do have seat back tables and toilets on their coaches and are 16 times a day and leave from Custom House Quay.

Translink/Bus Eireann also operate a number of services a day but the majority of these go via the towns rather than being express but they do take free travel pass.

Guess it depends on what location and features are most important to you.

AngryLips

Thanks. I was thinking legroom and just general cleanliness really.

XPS_Zero

I have not tried DC or Aircoach, but generally on other AC routes they have best seats with most leg room.

BE it depends on many things. At some times (don't know which ones) they give you a double decker sometimes a single decker. In the double you can go up top from and there is leg room to put your feet up and there are tables with leg room downstairs
If you are getting BE get there 20 min before the bus leaves and start the que, that way you can get one of the front seats OR the emergency exit seat in back left which has most leg room.

AngryLips

XPS_Zero wrote: »

BE it depends on many things.

I don't understand BE at all. I see their shiny new coaches passing through Dublin all the time, and the fancy ones they promote in their ads, yet every time I catch a BE bus, it feels like the same BE from 15-20 years ago.

XPS_Zero

AngryLips wrote: »

I don't understand BE at all. I see their shiny new coaches passing through Dublin all the time, and the fancy ones they promote in their ads, yet every time I catch a BE bus, it feels like the same BE from 15-20 years ago.

The new ones are on the X1 Dublin - Belfast route, and the double deckers are very very nice, but I actually don't find the new Expressway coaches great tbh. Goldlines are the real terrible ones. Theres no space except at the very front for your legs, and their wifi...every...single...f---g time...starts off working until about 10 min after you leave the terminus then it's gone, it just repeats the sign in process endlessly with no connection

J.pilkington

If you are going city to city then Dublin coach is surely a no brainier as the they don't stop at the airport(for some odd reason the "impartial" experts omitted this), that's 15mins easily saved so less time on the bus and the usual bit shuffling as new people board at the airport.

devnull

J.pilkington wrote: »

If you are going city to city then Dublin coach is surely a no brainier as the they don't stop at the airport(for some odd reason the "impartial" experts omitted this), that's 15mins easily saved so less time on the bus and the usual bit shuffling as new people board at the airport.

The poster asked about the comfort levels in the original post so I just pointed out the plus and minus of each of the operators when it comes to this, nothing more or nothing less, both operators have their strengths when it comes to on-board facilities.

It is granted that Dublin Coach is generally quicker than Aircoach but not by as much as their timetable suggests which quite often results in delays to services because of the small turn-around times at a terminus that means a small delay can have a knock on effect on the next service.

J.pilkington

Surely a massive input of comfort levels of a coach will be how long you are on it and the number of stops.

This huge fact was ignored yet other petty things were pointed out which conveniently enough went in favour of one company over another.

Anyways I'm not getting into this again with you or I'll get a load of cards like I did the last time because I'm not willing to play the report the posts game.

devnull

J.pilkington wrote: »

Anyways I'm not getting into this again with you or I'll get a load of cards like I did the last time because I'm not willing to play the report the posts game.

When I post in normal text I am poster as a regular poster of this forum.

If I post in bold I am posting as a moderator and just to be clear, no discussion of moderation is permitted to take place on thread, this always has been the rule for all posters, irrespective of their viewpoint.

- Moderator.

monument

I'm not sure what's unclear here: No discussion of moderation is allowed in-thread. None.

He only gave the poster a warning. I would have given them an infraction, as you are getting now. Read the charter before posting again -- the rule is in place for very good reasons.

If users think getting carded is worth it so they can reply in-thread to moderation, expect their posts to be deleted also.

-- moderator

horseburger

AngryLips wrote: »

Need to get there early morning so the train timetable doesn't suit

You could combine two different services.:)

You could get the 24 hour Aircoach from Dublin City Centre to the airport, and then get an X2 Translink / Ulster Bus service from the airport, which stops only in Belfast after leaving Dublin Airport.

The X2 takes under two hours to get to and from Dublin Airport and Belfast.

There is an X2 service from Dublin Airport to Belfast at 1.20am.

There are X2 services from Belfast that have Dublin Airport as its only stop.

The X1 Translink Ulster Bus / Bus Eireann service, is the service that covers Sprucefield, Banbridge and Newry to and from Dublin and Belfast. It operates hourly during the day, to and from Belfast. Between 11pm and 5am, it operates every two hours, to and from Dublin and Belfast.

The advantage Bus Eireann / Translink Ulster Bus, and Aircoach have, over the Dublin Coach service, is that they operate throughout the day and night to and from Dublin and Belfast.

http://www.aircoach.ie/timetables/route-705-x-belfast-dublin-airport-dublin-city-express
http://aircoach.ie/timetables/route-700-dublin-airport-dublin-city-centre
http://www.buseireann.ie/timetables/1470224678-X1.pdf
http://www.dublincoach.ie/timetables-fares/M1-bus-belfast-dublin-city.php