Zeebrugge – Harwich route

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The Zeebrugge – Harwich ( Zeebrugge – Harwich ) trajectory was an international rail ferry service between mainland Europe and Great Britain from 1924 to 1987 (with an interruption during the Second World War ) . The ferry connection was used exclusively for freight traffic .

Beginning

In 1925 the Deutsche Reichsbahn joined the Belgian-English ferry boat contract. From May 1, 1925, the connection made it possible to ship goods continuously by rail between Germany and the United Kingdom without having to reload them in between. Until then, the goods had to be reloaded twice, from the train to the ship, and then again, from the ship to the train. In addition, more complex "seaworthy packaging" was required.

vehicles

Because of the narrower clearance profile of the British railways, only specially built freight cars were permitted for traffic , which the Deutsche Reichsbahn designated as "Fährbootwagen" (F.-B.-Wagen). These wagons were initially used by the Belgian State Railways and were treated like private freight wagons . Insofar as they were assigned to German home stations , they were given trilingual lettering in English , French and German . From 1926 the Deutsche Reichsbahngesellschaft also had its own cars.

In 1928, the Deutsche Reichsbahn procured stake cars that could be used in traffic with Great Britain.

business

On the ferry route, Train Ferries No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 .

In the early days of traffic, not all British railways participated, or only to a limited extent. In practice, however, the difficulties seem to have been minor. Due to problems with the clearance, transit shipments north of Glasgow or to Ireland were not possible. According to the British side, from 1926 "all English railways without exception" carried the ferry wagons.

In Berlin there was an office of the ferry service Harwich-Zeebrücke GmbH , which mediated and monitored the traffic and worked closely with the Reichsbahn.

There was a daily trip in each direction. During the Great Depression , the demand fell sharply, so that in 1932 there were only three trips per week (in each direction) and there was the option of making an additional pair of trips on two days per week.

In 1987 the trajectory was discontinued.

Remarks

  1. ↑ In 1928 the postal address was: Unter den Linden 39 (Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Hg.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of July 28, 1928, No. 34. Announcement No. 425, p. 227).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Dostal: Narrow freight wagons for maritime transport routes . In: railway magazine . No. 5/2019 . Geramond, Gilching, S. 13 .
  2. ↑ a b Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of September 12, 1925, No. 46. Announcement No. 884, p. 497.
  3. ^ Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of May 16, 1925, No. 28. Announcement No. 521, p. 325; Supplemented by: Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of July 4, 1925, No. 35. Announcement No. 668, p. 390.
  4. ↑ Michael Dostal: Narrow freight wagons for maritime transport routes . In: railway magazine . No. 5/2019 . Geramond, Gilching, S. 13 .
  5. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of November 24, 1928, No. 52. Announcement No. 661, p. 322f.
  6. ^ Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz from July 18, 1925, No. 37. Announcement No. 715, p. 412.
  7. ^ Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of January 23, 1926, No. 4. Announcement No. 59, p. 32.
  8. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion in Mainz of July 28, 1928, No. 34. Announcement No. 425, p. 227.
  9. ↑ Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (ed.): Official Gazette of the Reichsbahndirektion Mainz of April 16, 1932, No. 16. Announcement No. 233, p. 93.