Translink X1/X2 services (Belfast - Dublin)

[scotsman]

Anyone got any experiences of these? What are they like on board?

 

[F Great Eastern]

X1 isn't really an express, it is the renamed 1/200 service operated jointly with Bus Eireann, as well as Dublin Airport, Dublin City and Belfast, it stops at Newry, Banbridge and Sprucefield. Operated mostly using 1 year old VDL double deckers on the Bus Eireann side and even newer Scania I6's on the Translink side, it operates every hour, 24 hours a day during the summer but in the winter some of the early services do not run. All offer Wifi on board.

X2 is a true express, from Dublin it runs from Dublin Airport to Belfast City only. but curiously in the other direction it runs all the way from Belfast City to Dublin City. There are no other stops apart from these. It is usually run by Scania I6's which were new to Translink in the last few months. It isn't as frequent as the X1 and operates (mostly) every two hours and most of the services are summer only. All offer Wifi on board.

http://www.buseireann.ie/pdf/1373031833-1X.pdf

If you are looking to go from Dublin City to Belfast, you may want to consider Aircoach, who operate 22 times daily in each direction on the route (basically hourly apart from late evening where it goes to every two hours) All services are express in both directions, serving Dublin City, Dublin Airport and Belfast City only. Can see interior of coach here and can be as cheap as £8 if booked online. All offer Wifi on board.

http://www.aircoach.ie/table.routes.belfast.php

Also consider the train, since if you book seven days in advance you can get prices from €14.99 from the Republic of Ireland end, or cheaper still if you buy them from Translink.

http://www.translink.co.uk/Services...-Web-Fares-Enterprise-Promotional-Web-Fares-/

 

[scotsman]

Thanks for the advice. We're avoiding the train, since it's more expensive and offers less flexibility than the coach.

As for Translink and Aircoach, there seems to be no difference in price at all - but the 24/7 operation on does make the state operator more attractive.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Bear in mind that the prices advertised on each of those websites are for online fares only booked in advance, the ones paid for on the coach are higher, so I'd really advise booking ahead where possible to get the best value fares.

Translink are 24 hours yes, if you combine both the X1 stoppers and the X2 express, though the Aircoach Express services are much more frequent than the X2. But if you don't mind dealing with the extra stops on the X1 and the 15 minute longer journey time then yes Translink is a better option, especially if you may be wanting to travel in the two hours when Aircoach don't run in the late evenings.

 

[Liam]

Anyone got any experiences of these? What are they like on board?

I traveld from Dublin on an Ulsterbus service last year. It was a double deck coach (MAN something or other?), quite comfy but it is a bit of a slog North of the border going into Newry, Banbridge and Sprucefield. It was very busy after Dublin Airport, but at that time there was only two or three X2's per day. Ulsterbus and Bus Eireann have a lot of Irizar Scania I4's. When I was in Dublin the tall ships were in town, so the bus couldn't get access to the port tunnel from Busarus, so we were delayed leaving Dublin on the surface streets which added time, approx 30 mins late into Belfast.

 

[F Great Eastern]

All of those vehicles have been replaced now.

These are the current vehicles

Ulsterbus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/572505...pTr-cSZVty-dxFWhD-aLb3tc-bVvUgY-eWwu4t-e5Cidr

Bus Eireann
http://www.flickr.com/photos/480736...rtx-d5ZwNS-7GUSb2-dw8NvV-8WVpWL-dV8y3N-egmqqi

Aircoach
http://www.flickr.com/photos/572505...giM-eC1yKZ-eB319V-eB6787-eB31Zc-eAKqUk-eAz9Ub

 

[Liam]

Thanks, those Irizar's were nice buses for longer distance services. I took one from Belfast to Enniskillen and Enniskillen to Dublin last year. They seemed to be a wee bit shorter than coaches in GB though.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Those Irizar's have only been in service a short while, before Translink had them, they used some much older Scania Centuries.

As a stopgap before the i6's came in they used these i4's for a while, which is what you may have seen, as they are shorter and look somewhere between a bus and coach rather than a full coach

http://www.flickr.com/photos/468851...yaC-eh76hh-egpGPd-egiUfB-efPcmL-eePTZb-eeCWGY

 

[Liam]

Weren't UB stull using Leyland Leopards until recently?

They were proper buses.