The first of Northern Ireland's £80 million order of 23 new C3K trains went into commercial passenger service today 24 November, operating the 10.32am service from Portadown to Bangor.
Passengers boarding the train expressed their delight and surprise at being the first people to travel on the first commercial passenger service.
These are some of their comments;
“This was an unbelievable surprise we felt like royalty! It’s a beautiful train, very comfortable and a lot better than the old ones”.
Mr and Mrs Haire, Portadown travelling with their grandson Sam Fenton
“The train is absolutely beautiful, glad to see they have updated them”.
Michelle Hogan, Portadown
“It’s great, very comfortable, nice surprise”
Paul Quinn, Lurgan
“The train is very comfortable and much quieter. My friends and I have seen them out testing and I’m delighted to be among the first to travel on it today”.
Lyn Topley, Portadown
“I really like it! Being a regular traveller to Queens University every day, I’m very pleased to see their introduction”
Peter Murdock, Lisburn
It’s really lovely, a ‘quer’ change from the old ones. It’s very modern, clean and quiet.
Mrs Martin, Sydenham
Mr James Gilliland, Lisburn
“This train is so lovely we don’t want to get off!, very comfortable, just glides along. Worth waiting for”
Mr and Mrs Gavin, Holywood
Speaking as the first passengers boarded, Translink Chairman, Dr Joan Smyth CBE commented, "This is an historic day for Northern Ireland, and marks the beginning of a very exciting period for rail travel. It is also a testament to our local politicians who had the vision and foresight to commit the necessary investment which we are confident will attract more passengers to the railway, and provide positive economic and social benefits for Northern Ireland."
“The financial investment in this project has been matched by an extensive research, development and engineering process. I must thank and congratulate all those who have been involved in bringing today about."
Translink Chief Executive, Keith Moffatt added, “These new trains together with our programme of investment in the rail network and staff training schemes will deliver a modern, high quality, rail service for Northern Ireland. We are confident our passengers will be more than impressed with the enhanced facilities and levels of comfort, and indeed we expect to see a significant increase in the popularity of travelling by rail as further trains enter passenger service”.
Mr Moffatt explained, “While the final stages of commissioning are not yet fully complete, we feel it is in the interests of passengers to introduce the trains at this early stage. Specifically we are still modifying the Passenger Information System however; the trains can be operated safely while we are in this final stage of commissioning.”
"Two additional trains are scheduled to enter passenger service by the end of this month. In the months ahead we will be taking delivery of the remainder of the order, with a new train arriving approximately every two weeks”.
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