A view from Northern Ireland

[Mark Gleeson]

In the course of some business in Northern Ireland myself and Derek took the opportunity to try out Northern Ireland Railways and I have to say it was a pleasure to travel on a passenger focused railway

Stations despite being unstaffed are neatly kept
There was a timetable on each platform, including a brief summary showing the times of all trains to Belfast
The station name boards are back lit
Approx. 1 minute before train arrival automated announcement was made
Conductor was pleasant and efficient, he was in full uniform, with an ID badge which gave is ID number
Train impeccably clean inside and out
In general all the staff were neatly turned out, with ID badges
And the C3K railcar is simply stunning, we are talking CDE interior
Belfast Central is a sight to behold, its modern, airy and clean so much better than it was
Only downside was the PIS tripped up

And what is interesting is most of this does not cost money its all attitude