Dublin Express investing £8.5m on new route

Dublin Express, part of National Express, is announcing plans to invest around £8.5m on a fleet of eight new Caetano Levante III coaches over the next 12 months. The new vehicles are planned for the operation’s new Belfast to Dublin route which is due to commence on 18 July.

The new Dublin Express service will be operated by Quinn’s Coach Hire of Dungannon, County Tyrone with 16 trips per day in each direction from Belfast city centre’s Glengall Street to Dublin Airport and Dublin city centre.

The operator is to run a special promotional offer on the new route, which will provide £1/€1 tickets for the first 10,000 customers from 4 July.

The investment also means the creation of 40 new jobs in drivers, management, maintenance and retail predominantly in Belfast and Dungannon.

“The new route is a significant milestone linking the two most populated cities on the island of Ireland and adds to our extensive network across the UK” – Dublin Express’ General Manager, Rory Fitzgerald

Dublin Express’ General Manager, Rory Fitzgerald, said: “We are excited to bring the Dublin Express brand to Northern Ireland and particularly Belfast, offering a new high-quality experience to passengers on the M1 corridor. The new route is a significant milestone linking the two most populated cities on the island of Ireland and adds to our extensive network across the UK.

“We’ve been receiving a high volume of requests from customers asking for this service which itself stood out as an under-served route. We estimate the number of Northern Ireland residents using Dublin Airport annually at over 1 million due to its geographic location on the north side of the city, the seamless M1 motorway and the numerous connections to mainland Europe, the Middle East and of course transatlantic flights to the US.

“We also believe our new coaches will be a step up in quality, safety and comfort to anything seen on the route previously with our bespoke coaches fitted to the latest Euro VI diesel specification and a range of state-of-the-art safety equipment. The vehicles are fully accessible with an onboard lift and wheelchair space, leather reclining seats, free WiFi, toilet and USB charging points at each seat.”