This page was last amended 11 September 2005

A supplement to Branch Line News #755 of 10 June 1995 listed known train-ferry routes, but in the five years 1995-1999 a number of these have ceased operating. The future of train-ferry routes has always been uncertain, for if they are successful as economic links they are replaced by ever more ambitious civil engineering in the form of bridges or tunnels - or they simply fall victim to better roads and road-vehicle ferries. One route (UA-RU Krim - Kavkaz) is known where a train-ferry replaced a bridge: according to the 1995 Quail Railway Atlas of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, in 1943-44 the German army invading the Soviet Union had a temporary rail bridge across the c.5km Kerch Strait.

All routes are for standard 1435mm-gauge rail wagons unless noted, though the vessels on a 'freight-only' ferry route may carry foot-passengers as well as freight wagons.
Only a few routes now convey passenger-train vehicles, and are specially noted.

This page - while providing the bulk of the framework for such a listing - is in need of overhaul and up-dating.
The webmaster will be very pleased to hear from anyone willing to tackle the task.

• GB-FR Dover - Dunkerque: English Channel/La Manche, 53km; ceased 31 December 1995, latterly carrying only 'hazardous' freight which now travels by sea and road vehicle; all rail traffic runs via Eurotunnel
• CH-DE Bodensee: Romanshorn - Friedrichshafen, ceased 1976; Romanshorn - Lindau, ceased 1939
• CH-AT Bodensee: Romanshorn - Bregenz, ceased 1915
• CH Zürichsee: Zürich Wollishofen - Uetikon, ceased 1894; Wädenswil - Ueitkon, no cessation date known, but probably also 1894. The railway between Zürich and Rapperswil via Uetikon opened in 1894. The line via Wollishofen opened in 1875, so the ferry would have started no earlier.
• CH Thuner See: Thun - Därlingen, ceased 1893. The railway beween Scherzlingen (between Thun and Spiez) and Interlaken opened in 1893. The section beween Därligen and Interlaken was reconstruction of the 1872 Bödelibahn.
• FR-FR Salin-de-Giraud - Fos: Rhône estuary, 0.2km; Bac de Barcarin, very local ferry (R.0133)
• DE-DE Hamburg Hafen: the Köhlbrandfähre conveyed wagons over the Süderelbe estuary until replaced by the Kattwykebrücke in 1974
• DE-DK Puttgarden - Rødby: Baltic, 19km; operators DB and DSB; passenger; most freight traffic diverted via Storebælt fixed-link and Flensburg
• DE-SE Lübeck-Travemünde - Malmö: Baltic; operators Nordö; (BLN 824.0181)
• DE-FI Lübeck-Travemünde - Turku/Åbo: Baltic; operators Railship; with bogie-changing to Finnish 1520mm-gauge; the Lübeck-Travemünde - Hankö service (BLN 824.0181) was diverted to Turku in 1998
• DE-DK Rostock-Warnemünde - Gedser: Baltic, 48km; freight ceased 1994, passenger trains later, traffic diverted via Storebælt and Flensburg (BLN 772.072)
• DE-SE Rostock - Trelleborg: Baltic, c.175km; operators HansaFerry (BLN 824.0181)
• DE-SE Sassnitz (Mukran) - Trelleborg: Baltic, c.80km; operators HansaFerry; passenger and freight (BLN 824.0181)
• DE-LT Sassnitz (Mukran) - Klaipeda: Baltic, 506km; 1520mm-gauge with bogie-changing to German 1435mm-gauge; originally a strategic link from Soviet Union to east Germany, avoiding Poland
• DK-DK Korsør - Nyborg: Storebælt, 12km; operators DSB; ceased, traffic diverted via Storebælt fixed link
• DK-SE Helsingør - Helsingborg: Øresund/Öresund, 10km; passenger only, but traffic diverted via fixed link from July 2000 (BLN 852.0334)
• DK-SE København - Helsingborg: Øresund/Öresund, 40km; freight-only, but traffic diverted via fixed link from July 2000
• DK-NO Hirtshals - Kristiansand: Skagerrak, 135km; ceased 1996 (BLN 813.0527)
• NO-NO Tinnoset - Mæl: on lake Tinnsjø; preserved ships may run passenger train-ferry in 2000 (BLN 852.0343)
• PL-PL Gdansk Port Polnocny - Gdansk Ostrow: within port area; local freight ferry serving shipyard till at least 1995, may still operate
• PL-SE Swinoujscie - Ystad: Baltic, 176km; operators EastLink (BLN 824.0181)
• SE-FI Stockholm - Turku/Åbo: Baltic; (BLN 759.0352)
• SE-FI Hargshamn - Uusikaupunki/Nystad: Gulf of Bothnia; ceased 1996 (BLN 804.0288)
• SE-LT Oxelösund - Klaipeda: Baltic; with bogie-changing to Lithuanian 1520mm-gauge; to begin 1 September 2000 (Railway Gazette International, November 1999)
• RU-RU Vyborg - Kaliningrad: Baltic; 1520mm-gauge; strategic link to Kaliningrad region, a Russian exclave, without crossing Lithuania (BLN 755.0261)
• IT-IT Paratico-Sarnico - Lovere: on Lago d'Iseo; tug with pontoons, to Lovere rail-axle works, till at least 1996
• IT-IT Civitavecchia - Golfo Aranci: to island of Sardinia, 160km; (BLN 795.070)
• IT-IT Villa San Giovanni - Messina: to island of Sicily, 8km; frequent, passenger and freight (BLN 819.062)
• IT-IT Reggio di Calabria - Messina: to island of Sicily, 13.5km; ceased (BLN 819.062)
• RO-BG Calafat - Vidin: across river Danube, 2km; local ferries now mostly used by road vehicles
• RO-TR Constanta - Istanbul: Black Sea
• RO-TR Constanta - Samsun: Black Sea, 833km; (BLN 771.067)
• RO-GE Constanta - Poti: Black Sea; with bogie-changing to Georgian 1520mm-gauge (BLN 849.0252)
• UA-BG Ilichovsk - Varna: Black Sea, 440km; 1520mm-gauge; with bogie-changing to Bulgarian 1435mm-gauge; originally a strategic link from Soviet Union to Bulgaria, avoiding Romania
• UA-RU Krim - Kavkaz: Black Sea; 1520mm-gauge; c.5km, over Kerch Strait, linking Krim (= Crimea) and Kavkaz (= Caucasus) Soviet railway regions 1955-86; being restored 2004 (Railway Gazette International, November 2004)
• UA-GE Ilichovsk - Poti: Black Sea; 1520mm-gauge; (BLN 849.0252)
• AZ-KZ Alyat - Aktau: Caspian Sea; 1520mm-gauge; (BLN 849.0252)
• AZ-TM Alyat - Turkmenbashi: Caspian Sea, c.310km; 1520mm-gauge; (BLN 849.0252)
• TR-TR Sirkeci - Haydarpasa: across Bosphorus at Istanbul, 2km (R.0353)
• TR-TR Van - Tatvan: across lake Van, 83km; for traffic to Iran, conveys freight plus a weekly Istanbul - Tehran train and a weekly Damascus - Tehran pilgrim train. For both train-pairs, only the baggage-cars are actually shipped; the passenger coaches remain on shore, due to limited capacity of the ferry.
• RU-RU Vanino - Kholmsk: to Sakhalin island, 267km; 1520mm-gauge with bogie-changing to Sakhalin (ex-Japanese) 1067mm-gauge; a feasibility study is to report by mid-2001 on replacing this train-ferry by a tunnel, the aim being to provide better access from the main line across Siberia to the island's oil-industry and to its year-round ice-free ports (BLN 782.0284, R.0389; Railway Gazette International, September 1999)
• JP-JP Okayama - Takamatsu: to island of Shikoku, 20km; 1067mm-gauge; ceased, all rail traffic diverted to bridge
• JP-JP Nigata - Matsuyama: to island of Shikoku, 30km; 1067mm-gauge; ceased, all rail traffic diverted to bridge
• NZ-NZ Wellington - Picton: between the North Island and the South Island, 95km; operators Tranz Rail; 1067mm-gauge (BLN 784.0344)
• CA-CA Vancouver - Nanaimo: to Vancouver Island, 50km
• CA-US Prince Rupert, BC - Whittier, AK: long coastal route to Alaska, 1533km; operators CN Aquatrain; large barges or 'carfloats' pushed or pulled by powerful tugs; can also serve Anchorage etc
• CA-US Sarnia, ON - Port Huron, MI: for high freight vehicles avoiding narrow tunnel under strait, 3km; ceased 1995 or 1996, freight diverted to new larger tunnel (BLN 767.0514)
• US-US Seattle, WA - Ketchikan AK - Sitka AK: long coastal route to Alaska; operators Knappton Marine Ferry; 'carfloats' pushed or pulled by tugs (R.0463)
• US-US Seattle, WA - Whittier, AK: long coastal route to Alaska; operators Crowley Marine Services; 'carfloats' pushed or pulled by tugs (R.0463)
• US-US Jersey City (Greenville Yard), NJ - New York (Brooklyn Bay Ridge Yard), NY: Hudson estuary; operators New York Cross Harbor Railroad; 'carfloats' pushed or pulled by tugs (BLN 840.0641, R.0463)
• US-US Cape Charles, VA - Norfolk (Little Creek), VA: Potomac estuary; operators Eastern Shore Railroad; 'carfloats' pushed or pulled by tugs (R.0463)
• PE-BO Puno - Guaqui: across lake Titicaca, 200km; Peruvian 1435mm and Bolivian 1000mm-gauge; Peruvian wagons may no longer disembark on to standard-gauge sidings at Guaqui, but may be discharged from onboard (BLN 817.021)
• UG-TZ Jinja - Mwanza: across lake Victoria between Uganda and Tanzania, 320km; 1000mm-gauge