Northern shoppers are taking advantage of the timely conjunction between the Christmas shopping period and the pound hitting its lowest level against sterling in 15 years to seek bargains in the Republic.
Iarnrod Eireann believes that traffic numbers will have increased by 10 per cent to 900,000 this year on the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise train service, which is run jointly with Northern Rail.
About 60 per cent of the traffic originates in Belfast.
Part of the attraction of Dublin shopping is that, even though the VAT rate on most goods is 21 per cent in the Republic, compared with 17.5 per cent in the North, the difference is easily absorbed by sterling's strength.
Meanwhile, taxes on petrol and diesel are lower in the Republic and although there were no changes made to prices in last week's Budget, fuel prices remain attractive for Northern motorists travelling south, particularly for those living close to the Border. According to the Automobile Association, the average price of unleaded petrol is 64.26p a litre in the Republic, compared to 74.7p sterling (93p) in the North. Diesel is 58.8p a litre, compared to 76.1p sterling (95p) in the North.
As for tobacco, a packet of 20 Benson & Hedges - at £3.73 after the increase in the Budget - is cheaper to buy in the Republic.
The equivalent product costs £3.88 sterling (£4.85) in the North, making British prices the second-highest in the world after Norway, a spokesman for the Irish Tobacco Manufacturers Advisory Committee said.
Irish tobacco taxes are third-highest in the world, at 77 per cent of the retail price.
Mr John Stringer, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said there was "no light at the end of the tunnel" as long as the euro remained weak. With millions of pounds being spent in subventions in the North, the economic ties between it and Britain are too closely linked to be unravelled.
"The choice of a UDI [unilateral declaration of independence] on currency rates is absolutely zero," he said. According to Mr Stringer, nobody is selling petrol in Belleek, Co Fermanagh, when it is 30 per cheaper in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, a little more than a mile away.
The strong sterling is the single biggest reason why Northern farmers have found themselves going bankrupt, Mr Springer added, as they are priced out of the market.
Although exports in general are on the increase, it is at the expense of "diminished margins" which will lead to some business closures in the new year.
However, the advent of a devolved government has introduced a note of optimism.
"The political situation should encourage us. In economic terms, it should be a good Christmas in the North," he said.
