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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 is a Ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Railway Tracks , and the ship has a door at the front or rear to give access to the wharves.

The wharf (called a "slip") has a ramp which connects the Railway proper to the ship, allowing for the water level to rise and fall with the tides. For an example of a specialized slip to receive railcars see Ferry Slip .

While railway vehicles can and are shipped on the decks or in the holds of ordinary ships, purpose-built train ferries are much quicker to load and unload, especially as several vehicles can be loaded or unloaded at once.


EXAMPLES



Australia


  • The Port Lincoln division is isolated from the main system by desert and is very roundabout, and rolling stock is transferred as required by ship or by road Low Loaders .



Bolivia




Brazil




Canada




China




Denmark




Egypt


A ferry, though not necessarily a train ferry, links the 1435mm gauge network of Egypt and the 1067mm network of Sudan.


Georgia




Italy




Japan


Japan Railways would have had train ferries to link up the main islands before these were replaced by bridges and tunnels.


New Zealand


  • North Island to South Island - 2 ferries - proposal to build new South Island terminal to reduce ferry distance and time. The ferries are capable of carrying both rail and road vehicles on two separate decks.



Norway




Paraguay


  • Link to Brazil - replaced by bridge c1985.



Peru




Sudan


A ferry, though not necessarily a train ferry, links the 1435mm gauge network of Egypt and the 1067mm network of Sudan, via the Nile River .


Sweden




Tanzania


See Uganda.


Turkey


  • Lake Van - will be replaced by railway along lake shore when traffic increases enough.

  • Bosphorus - bids called in 2005 to replace with tunnel.

  • Black Sea - Ilyichevsk , Ukraine to Derince , Turkey by passes a Break Of Gauge

  • M/F ERDENIZ is a train ferry that carries wagons between eregli port and zonguldak port. The vessel operates all days except sunday. The vessel is operated by ERDEMIR LOGISTICS



Uganda


A train ferry on Lake Victoria links the 1000mm gauge network of Uganda with the 1000mm gauge network of Tanzania.


Ukraine




United Kingdom




United States




PORTAGE RAILWAYS


The opposite of a train ferry is a Portage Railway .

  • A train ferry overcomes a lack of a land link.

  • A portage railway overcomes a lack of a navigatable stretch of a river.


For example, before the Panama Canal , the Panama Railway provided a link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean .


HAZARDS OF TRAIN FERRIES


While no train ferries (as far as it is known) have met with disaster at sea, car ferries such as the Herald Of Free Enterprise , which share some of the weaknesses of train ferries, have met with disaster.

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.


A number of railroad carferries have been 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 burned.


SEE ALSO