Mixed train
As a mixed train trains are at the railway called, carrying both passenger cars and freight cars, so no pure travel or freight trains are.
Other common names for a mixed train are:
- Freight train with passenger transport
- Passenger train carrying goods
Freight train with passenger transport
A freight train with passenger transport is a freight train that, in addition to freight cars, also carries one or more passenger cars for the transport of passengers. The official abbreviation for Deutscher Reichsbahn and Deutscher Bundesbahn is Gmp ; in the case of museum railways and model railroad fans, however, mostly GMPs .
The designation freight train with passenger transport as well as passenger train with freight transport was first used in 1893 by the Grand Ducal Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway , and in 1909 by the Prussian State Railway . The terms were not used throughout Germany until 1929 by the Deutsche Reichsbahn , although the use of the individual directorates was still different. The designation mixed train was still common on private railways; these designations were only used with the simplified railway building and operating regulations of March 1, 1943 and the corresponding simplified railway building and operating regulations for narrow-gauge railways of August 1, 1943.
The reasons for this type of rail operations management , which were previously not uncommon on branch lines, were:
- low number of travelers who do not justify the operation of special passenger trains
- Lack of vehicles and / or staff to operate freight and passenger trains separately
- Heavy use of the route, so that freight and passenger transport must be combined
In the heating season, the passenger cars, if they did not have their own heating, had to run directly behind the locomotive, since freight cars normally do not have a heating cable (there were exceptions to this, especially in Saxony). The disadvantage for the travelers was the low travel speed of a Gmp, which often had to spend long periods of time at stations on the way to drop off and pick up the freight wagons. This was also one of the decisive reasons for the disappearance of this type of train.
There were Gmp with the German Federal Railroad and the Austrian Federal Railways occasionally until the 1980s. The Deutsche Reichsbahn had freight trains with passenger transport for a longer period of time, but most recently only on narrow-gauge railways until 1993.
In narrow-gauge trains with standard-gauge wagons, the passenger wagons had to be carried at the end of the train for safety reasons.
These trains were not specifically identified in German timetable books, but they could be recognized by longer journey times and higher train numbers.
Today they can no longer be found in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Its implementation would also contradict the division into various subsidiaries for passenger and freight transport that is customary in most railway companies today. In parts of India, Asia and Africa, on the other hand, such transports are still common on routes with little traffic. In North America, so-called "mixed trains" ran on most of the branch lines. These were freight trains that usually drove with a combined passenger, mail and baggage car, rarely with several passenger cars. This type of train disappeared with the cessation of passenger traffic on the branch lines.
The few remaining freight trains with passenger transport include (in the broader sense) the trains on the rolling road . They typically have a couchette car in which the drivers stay while driving. The primary transport goods are trucks. The accompanying car is not accessible to regular travelers.
Passenger train carrying goods
The counterpart to the Gmp was the passenger train with goods transport . Its official abbreviation for Deutscher Reichsbahn and Deutscher Bundesbahn was Pmg ; Museum railways and model railroad fans, on the other hand, usually write PwG . This is a train that is mainly used for passenger transport and also carries freight wagons. One or more freight cars were attached to the rear of the passenger train. Maneuvering at stations on the way no longer took place in the end of the Pmg.
At state railways , this type of train existed with the Deutsche Reichsbahn until the 1990s , for example on the narrow-gauge Lößnitzgrundbahn . The last passenger train with goods transport ran in the Federal Republic on the regular-gauge railway line Teterow – Gnoien .
On private railways and in other countries there are still a few Pmg, for example on the Rhaetian Railway in Graubünden , the Montafonerbahn in Vorarlberg and the Übelbacherbahn in Styria . In order to secure these trains in the long term, the new Allegra multiple units of the former line were designed for a trailer load of 160 tons on the up to 70 ‰ steep Bernina Railway , which means that they can function as towing units.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Meinhold : The discovery of slowness: Freight trains with passenger transport in MIBA report Zugbildung (2) Düsseldorf 1.A 1997 pp. 92–97
- ↑ Wolf-Dietger Machel, Josef Mauerer: The very special mixtures . In: railway magazine . No. 2 , 2018, ISSN 0342-1902 , p. 10-17 .