A car shuttle train, or (sometimes) car-carrying train, is a shuttle train used to transport accompanied

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

s (

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s), and usually also bicycles and other types of road vehicles, for a relatively short distance. Car shuttle trains usually operate on lines passing through a rail tunnel and connecting two places not easily accessible to each other by road. On car shuttle train services, the occupants of the road vehicles being carried on the train usually stay with their vehicle throughout the rail journey. As such, car shuttle train services are to be contrasted with Motorail services. Unlike a car shuttle train, an Auto Train or Motorail train is a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...

on which passengers can take their car or automobile along with them (except in France where passengers and their vehicles are transported on two separate trains). On Motorail trains, passengers are carried in normal passenger cars or in

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

s on longer journeys, while the cars or automobiles are loaded separately into autoracks, car carriers, or

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on trucks (US) or bogies (UK) at each end. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted ...

s that normally form part of the same train.

By country

Austria

Böckstein,

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

– Mallnitz- Obervellach,

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

: ''Autoschleuse'' Tauern Railway Tunnel operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB)

Between France and the United Kingdom

Accompanied road vehicles are carried in closed railway wagons through the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

between

Sangatte Sangatte (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department on the northern coast of France on the English Channel. The name is of Flemish origin, meaning hole or gap in the sand. Engineering Sangatte i ...

(

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) and Cheriton (

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

). The car shuttle train is unique in that it is fully enclosed, and allows for double decker buses to travel in the same wagons as other regular passenger vehicles. Trucks going on the train travel in separate wagons that resemble cage-like frames, however.

Germany

The SyltShuttle operated by

DB Fernverkehr DB Fernverkehr AG (, "DB Long-Distance Traffic") is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of Deutsche Bahn, under the ...

and Autozug Sylt operated by Railroad Development Corporation transports road vehicles on railway wagons over the Hindenburgdamm from Niebüll,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

to Westerland in

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

(or in the opposite direction).

Slovenia

Car shuttle trains operate on the Bohinj Railway between Bohinjska Bistrica and

Most na Soči Most na Soči (; formerly ''Sveta Lucija'' or ''Sveta Lucija na Mostu'', ) is a town in the Municipality of Tolmin in the Littoral region of Slovenia. It is located on a rocky crest above the confluence of Soča and Idrijca rivers. In the past th ...

through the Bohinj Tunnel to Podbrdo.

Switzerland

The following car shuttle trains operate in Switzerland (mostly through tunnels): *

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

( VS) - Iselle di Trasquera (

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

): Simplon ( BLS) *

Kandersteg Kandersteg is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental (administrative district), Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland. ...

(BE) - Goppenstein ( VS): Lötschberg (no road connection) ( BLS) *

( BE) - Iselle di Trasquera (

): Lötschberg and Simplon ( BLS) * Oberwald ( VS) -

Realp Realp (archaic : ''Frialp'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Uri, Uri in Switzerland. History Realp is first mentioned in 1363 as ''Riealb''. Geography Realp has an area, , of . ...

( UR): Furka Base Tunnel ( MGB) * Klosters Selfranga ( GR) - Sagliains ( GR): Vereina Tunnel (instead of the drive over the Flüelapass) (

RhB The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

) * until 2023

Andermatt Andermatt () is a mountain village and municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the canton of Uri in Switzerland. At an elevation of above sea level, Andermatt is located at the center of the Saint-Gotthard Massif and the historical center ...

( UR) - Sedrun ( GR): Oberalp (only during winter while the road is closed) ( MGB) * until 2011 Thusis ( GR) -

Samedan Samedan (, locally ) is a town and municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Maloja Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Grisons. It is served by Samedan railway station on the Rhaetian Railway network and ...

( GR): Albula Railway, including the Albula Tunnel (as an alternative to the Julierpass) (

) * until the opening of the Gotthard Road Tunnel in 1980, there was also a car shuttle train through the Gotthard Rail Tunnel between Göschenen and Airolo. Following the catastrophic fire in the road tunnel on 24 October 2001, this car shuttle train resumed operations for a few weeks.

United Kingdom

In 1909 a train service started running over Connel Bridge between Connel Ferry station and on which road vehicles could be transported. A single car was carried on a wagon hauled by a

charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early coach (vehicle), motor coach, usually open-topped, common in UK, Britain during the early part of the 20th ...

. This service survived until 1914 when a paved roadway was provided alongside the railway track over the bridge. Also, on 7 April 1909 the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

started a formal service for the conveyance of motor cars through the Severn Tunnel. The service survived until it was made redundant by the

Severn Bridge The Severn Bridge () is a Controlled-access highway, motorway suspension bridge that spans the River Severn between South Gloucestershire in England and Monmouthshire in South East Wales. It is the original Severn crossing, Severn road crossi ...

in 1966. Motorail also operated on several British Rail routes from 1955 to 2005.

United States

From the 1960s to 2000, the town of

Whittier, Alaska Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the Chugach Census Area, Alaska, Chugach Census Area in the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganized Borough of Alaska, about southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. The city is located ...

could be reached by vehicle by way of a train shuttle through the Whittier tunnel. In 2000, the expanded Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel opened to shared vehicular and rail traffic.

References

External links

Urban commuter concept: increased range for electric vehicles by using trains

BLS Lötschberg Car Transport

DB Autozug SyltShuttle

Eurotunnel

ÖBB Autoschleuse Tauernbahn

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