Belmond Grand Hibernian

Route

The planned routes take in some of the history of rail transport in Ireland and are centred on Dublin. The service is timetabled to operate on a weekly schedule: a four-night tour of the south-west of Ireland during the week, then a two-night weekend tour to Northern Ireland. The "Realm of Giants" two-night trip is to travel from Dublin to Belfast and Portrush and back, while the "Legends and Loughs" is to go from Dublin-Cork-Killarney-Galway-Westport and back over four nights. One night per week is planned to be available for maintenance and other activities. For the 2016 season, full six-night "Grand Tour of Ireland" journeys are scheduled to run Tuesday-to-Monday, as these would consist of both the south-westerly "Legends and Loughs" and northerly "Realm of Giants" segments with a change-over for some passengers in Dublin on the Saturday of each week.

Locomotive

IÉ 201 class No. 216 ''River Dodder'' has been overhauled specifically for use on the Grand Hibernian, having been repainted into the same dark blue livery as the coaches. It was built in 1994 by General Motors but placed in storage at Inchicore in 2010 following an accident. However, it was decided between Irish Rail and Belmond that 216 was the most suitable candidate to become the Grand Hibernian's dedicated locomotive, and as such it was brought back into service. In a green undercoat, it worked several test runs and freight trains in 2016 before being repainted into the Grand Hibernian's blue livery.

A second 201 class locomotive is due to be converted for use with the Grand Hibernian in the event that 216 fails or is unavailable. It is speculated that this may be 225 ''River Deel''.

Carriages

The Grand Hibernian carriages are heavily renovated Mark 3's, originally built by British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) for Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ, now Iarnród Éireann) from 1980 to 1989 and withdrawn in 2009. The carriages underwent extensive engineering redesign and overhaul by Assenta Ltd. and were refurbished in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 2015 at a cost of £7 million. Internal fitting was carried out in Antrim, Northern Ireland, by Mivan. From the eleven Mark 3 carriages purchased, the proposed train will include modifications to make five sleeping cars, two restaurant cars for dining, and an observation car. Carriage names are based on the counties of Ireland, several taken from each of the provinces of Ireland. Each carriage is to bear a dark blue livery, 'Grand Hibernian' lettering, an enamel nameplate, and a 'Celtic knot' logo.

In December 2014 IÉ 201 Class-locomotive 229 moved the rake of eleven vehicles from Dublin Heuston Inchicore Works to Dublin North Wall sidings. The Mark 3 carriages in the rake were ordered as 7601, 7149, 7104, 7129, 7169, 7158, 7171, 7122, 7130, 7116 and 7137. Ten of the carriages were transported by road to Scotland in 2015 for refurbishment and painting. However, 7122 remained in Dublin and as of December 2016 is to be used for spare parts for the other vehicles in the set. It remains in Irish Rail's orange livery, with no refurbishment having taken place, in spite of it being purchased by Belmond. By mid-2016, all of the coaches had returned to Ireland to be taken to Mivan Engineering to have their interiors fitted. All have since returned to Dublin, with the last coach (No. 7149 ''Down'') leaving Antrim on 30 July 2016. All carriages were unloaded at North Wall sidings and taken by rail to Inchicore, where they have been assembled into a complete train in preparation for test runs, the first of which took place on 9 August 2016 behind the Belmond-liveried IÉ 201 class loco 216. The first test runs to reach Northern Ireland took place on 28 August 2016, when 201 Class No. 233 (In common user livery) stood in for 216 for a return trial from Dundalk to Belfast York Road.