RAILWAY FREIGHT FERRIES

The Author (of Rickmers-Werft, Bremerhaven) discusses the design and operation of long-distance railway freight ferries, including some commercial considerations (ferries carrying rail wagons in addition to passengers and road vehicles are outside the scope of the paper). It is stressed that the ferry should be regarded as part of a transport system, and not as a separate entity. The paper is particularly concerned with the arrangements, on board and at the ferry terminal, for handling and shunting the rail wagons. One of several aspects discussed is the number of wagon decks; although three decks may provide better utilisation of the hull spaces, two decks have the advantage that, with suitable shore arrangements, the wagons can be shunted on and off both decks directly, without the use of interdeck lifts, so reducing turnround time very considerably. In a hypothetical example, the turnround time is 2.5 hr for a two-decker and 6 hr for a three-decker; this allows the two-decker to operate at a lower speed, with a corresponding saving in the shp required. In the example, on a 325-n. mile route this saving in shp is 33% (8000 instead of 12,000 shp), corresponding to a reduction in service speed from 18 to 15.2 knots and an increase in voyage time from 18 to 21.5 hr; for longer routes, the saving in shp is less. Experience with Railway 1, including her Unilock tractors and other wagon-handling arrangements, has been very satisfactory, and to cope with increased traffic this three-deck ferry was lengthened, in 1979, from 159 m to 177.2 m (overall), with a corresponding increase in total track-length from 1307 m to 1710 m. A study has been made for a two-deck ferry with the original and with the increased dimensions of Railway 1, and some results of this study, including a brief comparison with USSR rail ferries, are incorporated in the paper.

• Corporate Authors:

  Springer Verlag

  175 5th Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10010
• Authors:
  • Heinsohn, H
• Publication Date: 1979

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 263
• Serial:
  • Jahrbuch der Schiffbautechnischen Gesellschaft
  • Volume: 73
  • Publisher: Springer Verlag

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Ferries; Intermodal terminals; Intermodal transportation; Rail marine interface; Turnaround time
• Old TRIS Terms: Intermodal operations
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00331572
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: British Ship Research Association
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1981 12:00AM