The official RU-vid channel for the railway expansion campaign, FundTheNINE.
N.I.N.E stands for the 'Northern Ireland Network Enhancement' scheme. A railway expansion plan that was put forward in 2008 by Dublin based independent transport researcher, Brian Guckian.
With this channel we want to provide the people of Northern Ireland and beyond with educational and informational videos oriented around the past, present & future railway network of Northern Ireland.
We are also currently campaigning for the reopening of the Knockmore line connecting Antrim to Lisburn via Crumlin. Sign the petition below!
Great to see the 80 class again. I remember them on the Bangor line and being let into the engine room whilst the engine was running. The trailers were all built with intermediate doors but with bomb damage and age, some mainline Mk2 carriages (built w/o intermediate doors) were converted to replace the trailers. UTA/NIR experience with the MPD sets led to trying DEMUs for the 70 class then 80 class as the bus engine/gearboxes of the earlier trains were not so reliable.
Thank you for the video showing the history and excellent work bring done on a class of train I knew well from 1984 when I first visited Belfast. I was lucky enough to ride and photograph them all over the north, but also in Cork, Bray and Dublin when on lease to Irish Rail. They were once taken for granted, but now are remembered as a unique train set worth preserving.
The fall of the Derry Road was a disgrace that will remain a stain on Stormont's history. I've seen several comments to the effect that had that key line lasted another year, it would still be with us. Roll on reinstatement ... not forgetting Enniskillen!! Could you please do something on the Belfast & County Down? The precipitate closure of everything barring the Bangor line always struck me as odd, but I know a LOT less about that than the missing majority of the old GNRI network.
Wonderful documentary .... thank you. I was lucky enough to track down a copy of Colm Flanagan's book "Diesel Dawn" (pub Courpoint 2003), which covers Ireland's DMU development between 1931 and 1967, in which the GNRI featured particularly prominently, so this tale of 3rd gen IC is a great next chapter (I originally said "continuation", but there's no real direct lineage connecting the 70/80 classes and the modern CAF kit.
@@TheHoveHeretic Well I am glad to have been able to bridge that gap for you! I feel that the very bit of history you refer to, between the 80 Class' entry to service and CAF sets purchase, is largely looked over. Hence why I made this video!
The 80 class is to NI what the double-decker is to London. I loved the sliding windows and manual door handles, built to last. It's mad to think that the modern trains are now 20 years old.
If I've heard correctly, the reason the UTA went for the EE powered class 70's DEMU's was because the manager at the time came from British Rail Southern Region, which had used the configuration of an EE 4SRKT engine using the same traction motors as the SR EMU's, instead of the Class 101 diesel hydraulic type.
The BR(S) 'Thumpers' enjoyed a solid reputation for reliability, at a time when not all DMUs could claim the same. In the annals of UK railways' diesel story, English Electric power plants stand out as the best and longest lived (aforementioned Thumpers, plus Classes 08, 20 and 37)
Park and ride from Carryduff with access from both roads (Newcastle and Downpatrick) into Belfast city centre. Only problem is the bus lane on upper Ormagh Rd which can’t be used because cars and vans park on the bus lane.
Fantastic documentary. It was a pleasure to be part of making of it by providing some footage. The 80 Class started my love for the railway i've plenty of fine memories of them over the years and without a doubt the 80 Class was one of the most comfortable trains to travel on.
@@RailVideosNI And it was my pleasure to make it with your footage! Without a doubt you have the best record of the 80 Class' existence, I wouldn't have been able to make it without your footage!
Came over on the boat train from Greenock to my Granny's in Belfast (aka Beirut) in the 70s-early 80s for my school holidays and I loved these trains as ours were boring electric trains with electric doors though remember once getting the last train from Larne that had every window smashed in so was basically an open cattle truck.
This was very interesting, even if I wished you went a bit more in depth on their history and the interesting stories surrounding some particular units. * For example, the Class leader, No. 67 was involved in the Downhill derailment on Tuesday the 4th of June 2002. * No. 97 Glenshesk having his engine damaged in 2009 yet survived as an unpowered Sandite unit until 2017. * Another unit is preserved in England over in the East Lancashire Railway, that being the youngest one, No. 99 Sir Myles Humphrey, which has been regauged to standard gauge and is used as a spare carriage. At least we got to know some useful information on their new life in preservation. You should do more of these history videos on other Northern Irish classes.
I have already covered the derailment of 2002 as part of a previous video, so covering it again would be wasted breath. I didnt cover Power Car 99 as she isn't *really* inpreservation, but rather is being used for parts and potentially, a future workshop.
Was always preferable to see an 80 turn up rather than a 450! I recall the reliability of the C3Ks was horrific when they were first introduced. A mole within one of CAFs subcontractors told me that, in addition to NIR introducing an overly-ambitious timetable at the same time, NIR had asked for so many changes from CAFs suggested specs (IIRC, engines, exhausts) and the track back then, particularly on the Derry line, was on such poor condition that the poor things more or less shook themselves to pieces. Fortunately, it seems they may have learned their lesson when it came to the C4Ks...
@@darrenaitcheson795 Love the insight! For what it's worth, I do think the 3000s have definitely shown that they were a worthwhile investment in the long-run!
Well done! This is an incredible documentary and was worth the wait. I only got to ride on the 80 class a couple of times in my life. They had a lot of character for sure!
@@librapondo_ Linking the City Airport? That's an idea I have pondered and discussed with other activists. From an on-paper standpoint, it would work. A tram line would provide a direct, reliable service that would negate the need for airport shuttle buses. This issue would be the existing railway line that runs right alongside the airport itself. In essence, it would be cheaper, quicker and far more plausible to Create a new station for the City Airport just down the line from Sydenham Station.
I know how much effort videos are to make, so we'll done on this! Edinburgh Airport is near railway lines. Over the years, there were proposals to create an Edinburgh Airport train station. In the end, when the Edinburgh tram was installed, it connected to the airport. This solution was good but 'Edinburgh centric' in a sense, because if you don't live in Edinburgh, you need to take the train beyond the airport to connect with the tram line that goes to it. There are free park and rides, too..... so I guess a train station at the airport might be good, in the sense it reaches out beyond Belfast but serves the city too? There are train stations at Gatwick, Prestwick, Heathrow etc. so why not Belfast! Maybe need to increase luggage storage on rolling storage.... anyway, great video. Make one about airport connectivity if you have the time / motivation and plan the while city out! :-)
@@librapondo_ I appreciate the well thought out input! An airport railway station would be the best-case scenario for Belfast, in both the sense of the City Airport and Belfast International, as both have railway lines that run past the airport. Both lines connect huge numbers of people to Belfast and beyond, so serving the country with airport stops in-between destinations would be a game changer.
It would be nice, but not practical. Unless NIR adopt a new 'Suburban/InterCity' model like they used to have, the need for such a style of train will remain absent.
It’s never gonna get funding lol, even Leeds haven’t gotten a tram system, any priority is not on developing a tram system literally on a remote island in the middle of nowhere that doesn’t generate vote for any of the main political parties in Britain. Northern Ireland already cannot fund itself and requires a huge subsidy every single year. more wasted money? That’s a no for me.
@@dchui3811 Thanks for the input, but this is not an official plan, rather an example of what could be achieved with better leadership. Also, just for note, funding public services is not a 'subsidy', but rather a necessary expenditure for any nation's government.
Tbh if the British government had more money subsidising regional development would be more palatable, but with how government finances are looking atm, we really should be developing big and well connected cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle etc.) that Belfast simply isn’t to maximise return on investment. When the government has more money then maybe they can think about this. Or maybe they can have the Irish government pay for it, not a British problem anyway.
@@fundthenineBut Northern Ireland is not in Britain, and with all the devolution and power sharing, that severely limits the British government’s power in NI, you might argue that it is more like a dependent territory than a national territory. It really should achieve financial self sufficiency rather than be asking Britain for money every time they want something built. I am all for the NI govt borrowing for infrastructure projects which the people of NI pay for; but completely against this idea where British taxpayers should somehow pay for projects in Northern Ireland. This completely remove any sense of financial responsibility in NI, which by the way, runs an ever larger deficit that no other country can afford to run on.
@@fundthenineIf Brexit hadn’t have happened would N Ireland have projects like public transport be part funded by the EU (A N Ireland NDP similar to The ROI)
@@aerlingusa321Xtralongrange Yes, government officials wood like it open and ready before the Euros in 2028, as the catchment of airport passengers would be immense.
