With England, Scotland and Wales now in Train Sim World, it's about time a Northern Ireland route was released, and I think Belfast - Newry would be an excellent route choice. What this route would consist of: The 43 miles of the Belfast to Dublin main line from Belfast Grand Central station as far as Newry station, as well as the line from Belfast Grand Central station over to Fortwilliam depot. The route would include 19 stations: Newry, Poyntzpass, Scarva, Portadown, Lurgan, Moira, Lisburn, Hilden, Lambeg, Derriaghy, Dunmurry, Finaghy, Balmoral, Adelaide, Belfast Grand Central, City Hospital, Botanic, Lanyon Place and York Street. There would also be 3 depots: Adelaide, York Road and Fortwilliam. Rolling Stock: N.I.R. 3000 Class (C3K) 3 Coach D.M.U.s 23 in service: (3001 - 3023) Max Speed: 90mph Operator: Translink N.I. Railways These D.M.U.s can be seen working local stopping services to Lisburn, Portadown, Newry, Bangor, Whitehead, Larne, Derry ~ Londonderry, Coleraine and Portrush, calling at all stations in Northern Ireland. In this route, they could operate stopping services between Belfast Grand Central and Lisburn, Portadown and Newry, as well as Enterprise services from Belfast Grand Central as far as Newry. You could also operate the Larne, Bangor and Londonderry line services from Belfast Grand Central as far as Lanyon Place and York Street. These can also be worked in multiple as 2x3 car trains. N.I.R. 4000 Class (C4K) 3 & 6 Coach D.M.U.s 20 in service (4001 - 4013 (3 coach) (4014 - 4020 (6 coach) Max. Speed: 90mph Operator: Translink N.I. Railways These slightly newer D.M.U.s can be seen working local stopping services to Lisburn, Portadown, Newry, Bangor, Whitehead, Larne, Derry ~ Londonderry, Coleraine and Portrush, calling at all stations in Northern Ireland. In this route, they could operate the same services in this route as the C3Ks, however they wouldn't do the Enterprise service from Belfast Grand Central as far as Newry as they do not run cross-border services due to not having the correct safety systems. The 6 car C4Ks couldn't do the services that stop at Scarva and Poyntzpass due to platform length. The 3 car units can work in multiple as 2x3 car trains. Enterprise Train (Add-On) I.É. 201 Class locomotive, I.É. Mk.3 generator van & De Dietrich coaches There are 4 of these trainsets consisting of a locomotive, generator van and 7 coaches. The coaches are: 4 standard class, 1 dining coach, 1 normal first class and 1 first class D.V.T. The D.V.T.s are numbered 9001 - 9004 There are 9 locomotives that work Enterprise services: 206, 207, 8208, 8209, 216, 227, 228, 231 & 233. 216 has a Belmond Grand Hibernian livery and 231 and 233 have unbranded grey liveries. Max Speed: 90mph Operator: Enterprise These trains (which could be a separate add-on) operate the Enterprise service between Belfast and Dublin, and so in game you could drive them between Belfast Grand Central and Newry. On southbound services they are driven D.V.T.-first, and on northbound services they are driven locomotive-first. They could also be used on the E.C.S. movements from Belfast Grand Central station to York Road depot. Overall, adding this route would be the best option for a Northern Ireland route since it is a suitable length (at 47 miles) and has a variety of stopping patterns, as well as an Enterprise add-on that would be very popular to make the line more realistic. For future add-ons, the I.É. 22000 Class (which also operates Enterprise services) and the N.I.R. M.P.V. (which operates Sandite duties) could also be considered. I would absolutely love Northern Ireland to be added to the game as I am from there, and this would be an excellent route in my opinion. I think the only thing holding DTG back is the 5'3 track gauge which is wider than the National Rail network. This is a must-have route so DOVETAIL PLEASE MAKE THIS ROUTE! (Note: All photos are my own work)
I’ve been recreating Translink NI Railways routes on my YouTube channel using the classic Microsoft Train Simulator (2001). One of the key add-ons I feature is the Irish Enterprise North: Belfast to Dundalk route, which was released in 2006 — now 20 years old. It’s been great revisiting these older Northern Ireland routes in MSTS, and it’s exciting to see modern NI Railways content appearing in Train Sim World, especially the Belfast–Newry section. It’s interesting to compare how the network was represented back in 2006 versus how it looks today in TSW.
While a NIR route would be very nice (or a route anywhere in the island of Ireland) sadly it seems unlikely such would ever be regarded as commercially viable by DTG or a third party. The history speaks for itself, sadly. One payware route for MSTS and nothing for TSC in all the years of its existence.
Easy you might be able to extend this to the last station that has aws tpws in the island Dundalk where you end aws tpws did for caws. The way the developers would treat this straightforward you have a United Kingdom group with the standard United Kingdom train protection Systems yet the track gauge is different
I have done the full Enterprise run from Belfast to Dublin that week on the IÉ Class 201 it started at Yorkgate and finishes at Dublin Connolly
I've done the full Translink NI Railways route from Belfast Great Victoria Street (closed in 2024) to Newry since you have made that imaginary image of Train Sim World 6 and this realistic Belfast to Newry route is from Microsoft Train Simulator using the Irish Enterprise North: Belfast to Dundalk Add-on, however this is from the classic NIR 80 Class DMU since it is set between 1995-2005
