Train ferry

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For information on other shipping boats such as this, see Merchant vessel.
Classification yard and two docking train ferries in Detroit, April 1943. A third ferry slip can be seen at the bottom of the photograph.
A train ferry of the RFI in the Golfo Aranci harbour (Italy, 1997)

A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ferries are sometimes referred to as "car ferries", as distinguished from "auto ferries" used to transport automobiles. The wharf (sometimes called a "slip") has a ramp, and a linkspan or "apron", balanced by weights, that connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for the water level to rise and fall with the tides.

While railway vehicles can be and are shipped on the decks or in the holds of ordinary ships, purpose-built train ferries can be quickly loaded and unloaded by roll-on/roll-off, especially as several vehicles can be loaded or unloaded at once. A train ferry that is a barge is called a car float or rail barge.

History

The 'Floating Railway', opened in 1850 as the first roll-on roll-off train ferry in the world.

An early train ferry was established as early as 1833 by the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway. To extend the line over the Forth and Clyde Canal in Scotland, the company began operating a wagon ferry to transport the rolling stock over the canal.[1][2][page needed] In April 1836, the first railroad car ferry in the U.S., Susquehanna, entered service on the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland.[2][page needed]

The first modern train ferry was Leviathan, built in 1849. The Edinburgh, Leith and Newhaven Railway was formed in 1842 and the company wished to extend the East Coast Main Line further north to Dundee and Aberdeen. As bridge technology was not yet capable enough to provide adequate support for the crossing over the Firth of Forth, which was roughly five miles across, a different solution had to be found, primarily for the transport of goods, where efficiency was key.

The company hired the up-and-coming civil engineer Thomas Bouch who argued for a train ferry with an efficient roll-on roll-off mechanism to maximise the efficiency of the system. Custom-built ferries were to be built, with railway lines and matching harbour facilities at both ends to allow the rolling stock to easily drive on and off the boat.[3] To compensate for the changing tides, adjustable ramps were positioned at the harbours and the gantry structure height was varied by moving it along the slipway. The wagons were loaded on and off with the use of stationary steam engines.[3][2][page needed]

Bouch's ferry design. Note the adjustable ramp.

Although others had had similar ideas, it was Bouch who first put them into effect, and did so with an attention to detail (such as design of the ferry slip) which led a subsequent President of the Institution of Civil Engineers[4] to settle any dispute over priority of invention with the observation that “there was little merit in a simple conception of this kind, compared with a work practically carried out in all its details, and brought to perfection.”[5]

The company was persuaded to install this train ferry service for the transportation of goods wagons across the Firth of Forth from Burntisland in Fife to Granton. The ferry itself was built by Thomas Grainger, a partner of the firm Grainger and Miller.[6]

The service commenced on 3 February 1850.[7] It was called "The Floating Railway" [8] and intended as a temporary measure until the railway could build a bridge, but this was not opened until 1890, its construction delayed in part by repercussions from the catastrophic failure of Thomas Bouch's Tay Rail Bridge.[9]

The largest train ferry ever built is MS Skåne on the Trelleborg-Rostock route, built in 1998, 200 meters (660 ft) long, 29 meters (95 ft) wide, with six tracks plus two on an elevator to the lower deck, having a total length of track of 1,110 meters (3,640 ft).

Hazards

The New York Central Railroad 69th Street Transfer Bridge

The Japanese train ferry, Toya Maru, sank during typhoon Marie on 26 September 1954, killing more than a thousand. Four other train ferries, Seikan maru No.11, Kitami Maru, Tokachi Maru and Hidaka Maru also sank on that day; the loss appeared to be of about 1,430 people.

In those days, Japanese train ferries did not have a rear sea-gate, because engineers believed that inrushing water would simply flow out again quickly and would not pose a danger.[citation needed] However, when the frequency of waves bears the wrong relationship to the length of a ship, each wave arrives as the water from the previous wave is trying to leave, causing water to accumulate on the ship. After the accidents, all Japanese train ferries were retrofitted with rear sea-gates and weather forecast technology was greatly promoted.

The Norwegian train ferry, Skagerrak, built in 1965, sank in gale-force winds on 7 September 1966, on a journey between Kristiansand, Norway and Hirtshals, Denmark, when the rear sea-gate was destroyed by heavy seas. One person subsequently died of injuries, and six freight cars and a number of automobiles sank to the bottom with the ship.

Loaded train ferry approaches dock in Detroit, Michigan, USA, April 1943.

The Canadian train ferry MV Patrick Morris sank on 20 April 1970, while assisting in a search and rescue operation for a sinking fishing trawler (MFV Enterprise) off the northeast coast of Cape Breton Island. The ferry was trying to maintain position to retrieve a body when its stern gates were overpowered by Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). waves. It sank within 30 minutes taking several rail cars and 4 crew members, including the Captain, to the bottom of the Cabot Strait. There were 47 survivors.

Train ferries rarely sank because of sea hazards, although they have some weaknesses linked to the very nature of transporting trains "on rail" on a ship.

These weaknesses include:

  • Trains are loaded at a rather high level, making the ship top-heavy.
  • The train deck is difficult to compartmentalise, so that sloshing flood water can destabilise the ship.
  • The sea doors where the trains go in and out are a weakness, even if placed at the rear of the ship.
  • The train carriages need to be strongly secured lest they break away and roll around, particularly on long, open-water routes.

The Ann Arbor Railroad of Michigan, developed a system of making cars secure that was adopted by many other lines. Screw jacks were placed on the corners of the railcar and the car was raised slightly to take its weight off of its wheels. Chains and turnbuckles were placed around the car frame and hooked onto the rails and tightened. Clamps were placed behind the wheels on the rails. Deckhands engaged in continual inspection and tightening of the gear during the crossing. This system effectively held the cars in place when the ship encountered rough weather.

Several train ferries—SS Milwaukee, SS Pere Marquette 18, and SS Marquette & Bessemer No. 2—were lost on the Great Lakes. These losses, though causes remain unconfirmed, were attributed to seas boarding the unprotected stern of the ship and swamping it in a severe storm. As a result, seagates were required on all new ships and required to be retrofitted on older vessels. In addition, two wooden crosslake railroad ferries were burned.

Some accidents occurred at the slip during loading, when stability was a major problem. Train ferries often list when heavy cars are loaded onto a track on one side while the other side is empty. Normal procedure was to load half of a track on one side, all of the track on the other side, and then the rest of the original track. If this procedure was not followed, results could be disastrous. In 1909, SS Ann Arbor No. 4 capsized in its slip in Manistique, Michigan when a switching crew put eight cars of iron ore on its portside tracks. The crew got off without loss of life, but salvage operations were costly and time-consuming.

Examples

Argentina

Nine train ferries were used between 1907 and 1990 to cross the Paraná river and join the Buenos Aires province (the main state in Argentina) and the Entre Rios province (the entrance to the Mesopotamian region), until new bridges were built over the rivers they crossed. They were Lucía Carbó (1907), María Parera (1908), Mercedes Lacroze (1909) (three ferries that operated between the ports of Zárate and Ibicuy (Entre Rios), crossing the Paraná River at the northwest of the Buenos Aires province). Then were added Roque Saenz Peña (1911) and Ezequiel Ramos Mejía (1913), paddle train ferries, at Posadas (crossing the Paraná River in the southwest of the Misiones province, at the north of the country, in the frontier with Paraguay).

Three other train ferries were added later: Dolores de Urquiza (1926), Delfina Mitre (1928) and Carmen Avellaneda (1929) to cover the service in the Zárate-Ibicuy crossing. María Parera had a collision with Lucía Carbó at km. 145 of the Paraná River, and it sank in less than 15 minutes on June 30, 1926. Two of the most modern still serve as floating piers in the Zárate region, and one of the first group was sunk during a storm at the Buenos Aires port in the 1980s. The two northern paddle ferries still remain at Posadas, and one of them holds a model railway museum inside. All the eight old ferries were built by the A & J Inglis Co. Ltd., in Pointhouse, Glasgow, Scotland for the Entre Rios Railways Co. in Argentina. The ninth ferry, Tabare, was built in Argentina by Astarsa (ASTilleros ARgentinos S.A.) in 1966 at Astillero Río Santiago Río Santiago Shipyard near to La Plata city. It was the largest train ferry that operated in Argentina, with a deck more than 100 meters long. Tabaré is still floating, but not operating, at the old south docks of Buenos Aires port, near the Puerto Madero zone.

Australia

Azerbaijan

Bangladesh

  • from Balashi Ghat to Bahadurabad Ghat - 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge.
  • across the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh - superseded by Jamuna Bridge, 2003; 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) dual gauge.

Belgium

Bolivia

  • Train ferry from Peru - 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauges at each end.

Bulgaria

  • The Varna-Odessa (Ukraine) train ferry line served by 4 boats (13,000 tonnes deadweight (DWT) each, carrying 108 loaded railroad cars) opened in 1978, bypasses a break of gauge. Later, the service was extended to include lines to Poti and Batumi, Georgia. Boats can carry trucks and passengers as well.

Canada

A railbarge is a variation of a train ferry that consists of barges pushed by a tug.

In use

Former car floats

Woodfibre, British Columbia

Former train ferries

China

The Lüshun (Dalian) terminal of the Bohai Train Ferry
A Bohai Train Ferry vessel

In use

  • Guangdong–Hainan Railway: Part of this railway is the Yuehai (粤海, i.e. Guangdong-Hainan) Ferry which crosses the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang, Guangdong and Haikou, Hainan. The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island.[13] As of the late 2010, two ferry boats were in operation; the third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010, and was going to be delivered to the ferry company in December 2010.[14]
  • Bohai Train Ferry: Yantai in Shandong Province to Dalian in Liaoning Province. This short-cut line, operated by Sinorail, has been running since November 2006. As of 2011, it is freight-only service.[15]
  • Jiangyin Train Ferry on the Xinyi–Changxing Railway (freight only). Trains are carried from Jingjiang on the northern side of the Yangtze River (terminal at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.) to Jiangyin on the southern side (terminal at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.). A pair of ferries make 48 trips per day across the river.[16]

Former

Cuba

Note: all auto and rail ferry services have been suspended between the United States and Cuba due to the ongoing United States embargo against Cuba.

Denmark

In use

Former

Finland

Former

  • Stockholm - Naantali (1967–75), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Naantali, freight only
  • Travemünde - Hanko (1975–98), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Hanko, freight only
  • Travemünde - Turku (1998–2007), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Turku, freight only
  • Hargshamn (Sweden) - Uusikaupunki (1989–96), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Uusikaupunki, freight only
  • Turku - Stockholm (-2012, see SeaRail), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Turku, freight only

France

Germany

In use

Former

Bonn–Oberkassel train ferry

Georgia

Iran

A new train ferry link-span terminal is under construction at Amirabad Special Economic Zone, Mazandaran Province, Iran.

Iraq

Train ferries were at one time used to cross the Euphrates River at Baghdad.

Italy

Train and car ferry between Calabria and Sicily
In use
Former

Both Sicily and Sardinia services are operated by Bluvia that is a subsidiary company of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. At present the link between Mainland and Sicily has a regular and frequent activity, while the link between Mainland and Sardinia is less frequent and operated basically day by day on the basis of the actual traffic demand.

Japan

In Japanese, a train ferry is called "鉄道連絡船 tetsudō renrakusen", which means literally "railway connection ship". Such ships may or may not be able to carry railcars. A ferry service that is part of a railway schedule and its fare system is called "tetsudō renrakusen".

Japan Railways linked the four main Japanese islands with train ferries before these were replaced by bridges and tunnels.

There were three ferry services that carried trains. Through operations of passenger trains using train ferries were conducted between December 1948 and 11 May 1955. The passenger services was canceled after the disasters of the Toya Maru (26 September 1954, killed 1,153) and the Shiun Maru (11 May 1955, killed 168) occurred, after which the Japanese National Railways (JNR) considered it dangerous to allow passengers to stay on trains aboard ship. These three lines have been replaced by tunnels and bridges.

  • Seikan Ferry
The Seikan ferry connected Aomori Station and Hakodate Station crossing the Tsugaru Strait connecting Honshū and Hokkaidō. The first full-scale train ferry, the Shōhō Maru, entered service in April, 1924. On 13 March 1988, the Seikan Tunnel was opened and the ferry ceased operation. The tunnel and the ferry line was operated simultaneously only on that day.
  • Ukō Ferry
The Ukō ferry connected Uno station and Takamatsu station crossing the Seto Inland Sea connecting Honshū and Shikoku. The ferry service started carrying railcars on 10 October 1921. On 9 April 1988, Great Seto Bridge was opened and the last train ferry operated on the previous day.
  • Kammon Ferry
The Kammon ferry connected Shimonoseki Station and Mojikō Station crossing the Kanmon Strait connecting Honshū and Kyūshū. This was the first train ferry service in Japan starting operation on 1 October 1911. The train ferries used piers at Komorie station. After the completion of the Kanmon Tunnel on 1 July 1942, the service was discontinued and the ferries were transferred to the Ukō Ferry operation.

Lithuania

Mexico

The Netherlands

From 1886 to 1936, train ferries sailed between Stavoren and Enkhuizen across the IJsselmeer. From 1914 to 1983 a ferry carried freight carriages from the Rietlanden shunting area to the Amsterdam-Noord railway network, which was not connected over land to the rest of the Dutch railway network.

New Zealand

  • The Interislander runs a train ferry (called rail ferries locally), Aratere, across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton, carrying both road and rail cargo on separate decks. Kaitaki and Kaiarahi also serve this route, but carry road vehicles only.

Nigeria

  • A temporary ferry was used at the crossing of the Niger River due to delays finding foundations for a bridge.[19]
  • similarly at Makurdi on the River Benue, replaced by a road-rail bridge in 1932.

Norway

The Tinnsjø railway ferry, Norway.

Paraguay

Encarnacion — Posadas [20]

Peru

  • Link with Bolivia across Lake Titicaca. The car float Manco Capac has dual gauge tracks for both Peruvian 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge and Bolivian 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) metre gauge. There are small stretches of dual gauge trackage at Puno in Peru and Guaqui in Bolivia. Car loading and unloading are done at docks. The British-built steamship Ollanta is no longer maintained, but PeruRail, in charge of the vessel, is trying to develop a tourist project soon.[21]

Russia & former USSR

Black Sea

Pacific Ocean

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Shipping Company (Caspar) has 7 train ferries and is building two more.

See Iran.

Baltic Sea

Former

Sudan

A ferry, though not necessarily a train ferry, links the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauge network of Egypt and the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) network of Sudan, across the Nile River.

A ferry used to operate between Juba, Sudan (now in South Sudan) and Pakwach, Uganda, also along the Nile River.

Sweden

In use

All are for freight trains (and road vehicles) only, except that there is a nightly passenger train service between Malmö, Sweden and Berlin, Germany over Trelleborg — Sassnitz.

Former

  • Gothenburg – Frederikshavn, Denmark (1987 - 2015)
  • Helsingør, Denmark – Helsingborg (1892–2000)
  • Copenhagen, Denmark – Helsingborg (1986–2000), freight only
  • Copenhagen, Denmark – Malmö (1895–1986)
  • Saßnitz, Germany – Trelleborg, (1909–1998)
  • Trelleborg – Gdansk, Poland (1946)
  • Trelleborg – Gdynia, Poland (1947–1950)
  • Trelleborg – Świnoujście, Poland (1948–1953), was supposed to replace the Ystad - Świnoujście service in 2010 again, but that didn't happen
  • Trelleborg – Warnemünde, the GDR (1948–1953)
  • Bergkvara – Mörbylånga, normal gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) between 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) in Bergkvara and 891 mm in Mörbylånga (1953–1955)
  • Kalmar – Färjestaden, narrow gauge 891 mm (1957–1962)
  • Stockholm – Naantali, Finland (1967–1975), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Naantali, freight only
  • Malmö – Travemünde, Germany (from mid 80s until a few years after 2000)
  • Hargshamn (Sweden) - Uusikaupunki (1989–96), normal gauge on board, break-of-gauge in Uusikaupunki, freight only
  • Stockholm – Turku, Finland (SeaRail, ended 2012, normal gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in))

Never opened

  • Trelleborg – Travemünde, the ferries were built (Nils Dacke and Robin Hood 1988-89) but the service never opened, as the "Iron Curtain" fell

Tanzania

See Uganda.

Turkey

  • Bosphorus: Train ferries used to connect the European railway network with main connections from Thessaloniki, Greece and Bucharest, Romania terminating at the Sirkeci Terminal to the Asian network terminating at the Haydarpaşa Terminal. Closure of lines within Istanbul in both sides due to Marmaray project caused these ferry services to become useless since the beginning of 2012. Ferry service between Tekirdağ and Derince replaced this ferry service which started at the end of 2013.[26] The current Marmaray project, to be completed in 2015, will replace partially the ferry connection with an underwater railway tunnel running between the two sides.
  • Black Sea: Chornomorsk, Ukraine to Derince, Turkey bypasses a break of gauge
  • Black Sea:- Samsun, Turkey to Kavkaz, Russia: Launched in December 2010[27]
  • Lake Van - Tatvan — Van. The Istanbul — Tehran "Trans-Asya-Ekspresi" operates and the Damascus — Tehran passenger train operated from each terminus to the ferry ports. Only the luggage van takes the ferry due to capacity restrictions, the passengers have to change at both ends. The Lake Van ferry is part of the planned Trans-Asian Railway, Istanbul — Singapore. A scheduled freight train runs from Istanbul to Kazakhstan. The train ferry was established to avoid an expensive railroad line along the mountainous southern shore and may be replaced when traffic increases sufficiently; there are reports of financing discussions between the governments of Turkey and Iran. The ferry route is 96 km (60 mi) long while a rail alternative on the north side would be 250 km (160 mi) long in mountainous terrain. There are four ferries each of 16 coach capacity capable of making three trips per day.[28] Other sources describe the ferries' capacity as 450 tons (9 to 14 railcars).[29]
Ferry Van approaching Van harbour.
  • Tekirdağ-Derince Ferry: The ferry service had started at the end of 2013 connecting Europe to Asia by rail.[26] The service is given by TCDD where a maritime company is the subcontractor. The ferry is MF Erdeniz, which used to carry wagons between Eregli and Zonguldak ports. She is now carrying wagons between Tekirdağ Port and Derince Port, İzmit. Ferry has 5 lines which are in total, 800 meters (2,600 ft) long. It can travel between Tekirdağ and Derince in 8 hours.
  • Tekirdağ-Bandırma Ferry: TCDD is constructing another ferry ramp at Bandırma Port and is planning to give ferry service between Tekirdağ and Bandırma ports. This service will connect Agean Region of Turkey to Europe by rail.

Uganda

Ukraine

  • See Bulgaria, Russia and Turkey entries

United Kingdom

Former

Proposed but never implemented

United States

For international Great Lakes ferries, see Canada.

In use

Former

Southern Pacific Railroad in New Orleans

Proposed ferries

The Trans-Asian Railway has proposed a few train ferries:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ George Parker Bidder; not to be confused with the lawyer (his son) who represented Bouch at the Tay Bridge Inquiry
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Shipway, J.S. (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Trains (Magazine) February 2009 p9
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ "Train-ferry project making solid progress". By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06
  14. ↑ Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd 2010-10-12 Archived December 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ (Chinese) "新长铁路轮渡日运送千余车皮　有效分流沪宁铁路运输压力" Xinhua Sept. 9, 2009
  17. ↑ http://www.b.dk/nationalt/dsb-koerer-nattog-i-remisen
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Southern Peru Railroads[dead link]
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Сахалинская узкоколейная железная дорога (The narrow-gauge railways of Sakhalin) (Russian) Archived January 28, 2014, at archive.today
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Uysal, Onur. "Wagons On Board: Tekirdag Derince Ferry Departed", Rail Turkey, 11 November 2013
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Bottleneck for Eastward Trains: Van Lake
  30. ↑ RailwaysAfrica Archived copy at WebCite (November 21, 2005).
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/bridges/belah.html
  35. ↑ http://nynjr.com/
  36. ↑ Trains May 2010
  37. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Railway Gazette International January 2009, p54

External links

Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons

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