User:Hammersfan/Railway Adjustment and Intervention Bureau/Aer Lingus Trains

Aer Lingus Trains (ALT) is a passenger rail operator that runs trains between Belfast in Northern Ireland and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. Jointly owned by Aer Lingus, Ireland's flag carrier, and Renaissance Trains, a British company dedicated to the provision of open access rail operations, ALT is the only private passenger operator on the Irish rail network.

History
Up to 2011, the passenger operators on the railway network of the island of Ireland enjoyed a derogation from the implementation of various European Union directives in regards to the opening up of the European rail network to competition, with the argument being that due to its small size (less than 2,000km) and isolated nature, it would be unattractive to any potential operators wishing to come in. As a consequence, NI Railways and Iarnród Éireann enjoyed a monopoly on passenger rail travel. However, in 2010, the European Union announced plans to issue legal proceedings against several countries, including Ireland, that would not implement its directives in full. As a consequence, Iarnród Éireann issued a new network statement, laying out the terms that would allow open access on the Irish network. The wording of this however limited any potential open access to freight only.

At this time, Enterprise was the flagship passenger rail operation, connecting Belfast and Dublin. Jointly owned and operated by both Iarnród Éireann and NI Railways, it was unfortunately not able to fulfil its potential due to a lack of investment - the slow speed of the service meant that it was not profitable and therefore required significant public subsidy to be maintained, which meant that little money was available to allow for the procurement of new rolling stock to make the service hourly (it ran a two hourly timetable). Renaissance Trains, a company dedicated to the development of open access operations on the British network made an offer to privatise Enterprise in 2011, with the intention of purchasing second hand trains from Iarnród Éireann and then operating an hourly service, which was rejected. So, the company then proceeded to start developing an open access service between Belfast and Dublin that would allow an hourly service between the two cities. This attracted the attention of Aer Lingus, which was seeking to diversify its operations away from solely air travel into rail. The low cost of Renaissance's proposal meant that Aer Lingus would be able to gain experience of passenger rail with less financial risk, and so the airline purchased 50% of the new operator, which was then named Aer Lingus Trains, and received the airline's branding. Under the terms of Irish law, the new operation was then given a license to operate on Ireland's railway network as an international operator.

The European directives on competition were also applied to Northern Ireland, and so NI Railways began a programme of diversification of its operations. All of the company's rolling stock was transferred to a newly formed ROSCO, NIR Leasing, which meant that it could then be hired out on a commercial basis. Although NI Railways' new Class 3000 and Class 4000 DMUs were all taken by the passenger operator, the remainder of its fleet thus became available. Additionally, NIR Leasing began purchasing additional rolling stock from Iarnród Éireann. The purchase of a number of Mark 3 coaches, plus the two remaining control cars, allowed two push-pull trains to be formed. These, plus NIR's "Gatwick" rake, were then leased to ALT to form its initial fleet.

Owing to competition regulations, Aer Lingus Trains was unable to call at the same stations as Enterprise. So, a degree of investment in infrastructure was required in addition to the refurbishment of rolling stock. This primarily came in two areas:
 * Dunleer railway station - ALT announced an intention that Dunleer would be its northernmost stop in the Republic of Ireland. Dunleer is located between Dundalk and Drogheda on the Dublin-Belfast line, but the railway station was closed in 1984. Despite many attempts by the local community to have the station restored, these were unsuccessful until the advent of Aer Lingus Trains, which offered to pay for the construction of the new station, if access was paid for by the local authorities. Dunleer was reopened served by both ALT and Iarnród Éireann's Commuter services.
 * Newcomen Junction and Docklands railway station - Due to Aer Lingus Trains being unable to use Dublin Connolly as its southern terminus, it elected instead to use Docklands. This required the construction of a new junction to access Docklands from the main line. Aer Lingus Trains paid for this work which was then sold to Iarnród Éireann in return for access rights. Aer Lingus also paid for the construction of two new platforms at Docklands, which can be used both by its services and as an overload for Commuter services scheduled to terminate at Connolly.

Operation
As a result of competition regulations, Aer Lingus Trains is not permitted to operate over exactly the same route as Enterprise. As a consequence, its two termini are at Belfast Grand Central and Dublin Docklands. Aer Lingus Trains calls additionally at Lurgan in Northern Ireland (at which Enterprise only stops on Sundays), and at Dunleer and Malahide in the Republic of Ireland. Belfast Grand Central is located more centrally in Belfast than Belfast Lanyon Place, while Docklands is a short walk from the Luas Red Line terminus at Spencer Dock.

Aer Lingus Trains operates in alternate hours to Enterprise. It operates eight trains daily in each direction, with the journey taking approximately two hours. Although ALT currently operates using older and slower rolling stock than Enterprise, it is able to keep to a relatively comparable timetable due to the relative state of the route and the fact that it has fewer stops.

Rolling Stock
Aer Lingus Trains currently utilises surplus rolling stock previously operated by both NI Railways and Iarnród Éireann. The bulk of the fleet is made up of former IÉ Mark 3 passenger coaches that were saved from scrapping when purchased by NIR Leasing. Included in this were the two remaining Mark 3 control cars that allowed ALT to form push-pull trains. As part of the refurbishment of the coaches, these were rewired to allow for push-pull operation. Additionally, one of the surplus 071 Class locomotives was also purchased and added to the Class 111 fleet. Because these are required by NI Railways for various duties, these are not leased directly to Aer Lingus Trains, but instead on an as required basis - usually this will see two per day on ALT duties, with the remaining two on NIR duties, which could include shunting, permanent way or engineering trains. The remainder is formed from NIR's "Gatwick" set of Mark 2 coaches.

Future
Aer Lingus Trains have made a commitment to procure new rolling stock once the service is established. This will likely take the form of modern diesel multiple units that are cheaper to both run and maintain than the existing locomotive hauled fleet. ALT has indicated that its preference would be for a number of 6-7 Class 22000 units, similar to those currently operated by Iarnród Éireann.

Aer Lingus Trains has also indicated that it would like to operate services to other areas of Ireland, as it sees a potential market that could be opened. Its first priority is for direct trains between Northern Ireland and the west coast, with Galway the most viable destination, as this has connections to the south. Using the currently freight only Drogheda-Navan line and the closed but still extant Mullingar-Athlone line would allow a direct connection for ALT's trains.