by trainviews
Yesterday marked the end of 147 years of running passenger trains on board ferries in Denmark, as the Femern connection to Germany closed down.
The first rail ferry link started operation in Denmark on the Little Belt between the island of Funen and Jutland (which is part of the European Cóntinent) in 1872. It was replaced by a bridge in the 1930's, but train ferries continued on the Great Belt until the fixed link was opened here in 1998 and until yesterday on Femern Belt between the island of Sealand (where capital Copenhagen is situated) and Germany.
The article here https://www.berlingske.dk/nyheder/dsb- ... beslutning is in Danish, but has a few interesting pictures from when the current (shorter) link was opened in 1963.
For the next 9 years or so trains from Copenhagen to Hamburg will run via the Great Belt Bridge, the Little Belt Bridge and turn south through Jutland to Hamburg. The new direct tunnel under the 18 km wide Femern Belt is supposed to be ready in 2028 and operator DSB simply thought the multiple construction projects on the connecting train lines in both Denmark and Germany would make the ferry connection too unstable. The lines are in for double tracking, electrification, curve straigtening, speed upgrades, new signal system and partly new construction, including replacement of several smaller and not so small bridges and a new alignment on much of the German side.
The travel time on the interim connection is actually a bit faster than the ferry link due to higher track standards, but it sure is nostalgic...
I have no idea if this practice of running loaded passenger trains on to ferries exist anywhere else in the world.
The first rail ferry link started operation in Denmark on the Little Belt between the island of Funen and Jutland (which is part of the European Cóntinent) in 1872. It was replaced by a bridge in the 1930's, but train ferries continued on the Great Belt until the fixed link was opened here in 1998 and until yesterday on Femern Belt between the island of Sealand (where capital Copenhagen is situated) and Germany.
The article here https://www.berlingske.dk/nyheder/dsb- ... beslutning is in Danish, but has a few interesting pictures from when the current (shorter) link was opened in 1963.
For the next 9 years or so trains from Copenhagen to Hamburg will run via the Great Belt Bridge, the Little Belt Bridge and turn south through Jutland to Hamburg. The new direct tunnel under the 18 km wide Femern Belt is supposed to be ready in 2028 and operator DSB simply thought the multiple construction projects on the connecting train lines in both Denmark and Germany would make the ferry connection too unstable. The lines are in for double tracking, electrification, curve straigtening, speed upgrades, new signal system and partly new construction, including replacement of several smaller and not so small bridges and a new alignment on much of the German side.
The travel time on the interim connection is actually a bit faster than the ferry link due to higher track standards, but it sure is nostalgic...
I have no idea if this practice of running loaded passenger trains on to ferries exist anywhere else in the world.