Dividing train

Last updated April 09, 2024

A dividing train is a passenger train that separates into two trains partway along its route, so as to serve two destinations. Inversely, two trains from different origins may be coupled together mid-route to reach a common endpoint. Trains on complex routes may divide or couple multiple times. The general term for coupling two or more trains along their shared route sections is portion working.

For example, the westbound Empire Builder travels from Chicago Union Station to Spokane, Washington, where its cars are divided into two trains: one continues to Portland Union Station and one to King Street Station, Seattle. On the eastbound trip, trains from Portland and Seattle are coupled at Spokane before traveling as one train to Chicago.

Dividing trains are useful where line capacity is limited, allowing multiple trains to use the same path over a congested part of a network. The common sections will often be the busiest parts of the routes.

Operation

Video: Coupling of two ICE T portions in Leipzig, 2017

On the initial leg of its journey, the train is driven as normal by a single crew. At a designated station before a junction, the train stops and some of the cars are detached, with passengers or goods still on board. The front part of the train then departs to run the remainder of its route. A second train is then formed from the detached cars, the points are changed at the junction, and a new crew drives the train on a different route to a second destination. Where the train is formed of multiple units – self-contained trainsets with their own propulsion and driving cabs – two or more units work in multiple on the first leg. After detachment, the second crew drives in the trailing unit's front cab.

On the return journey, the two trains may join at the same station where they divided. Special signalling is required at the station to allow a following train to enter the block currently occupied by the train in front in order for the two to couple. The British rail network uses a shunt signal to authorize this type of movement.^[1]

Possible combinations

A variety of portion working combinations is possible. For example:

Two trains may each depart from separate termini, be coupled together en route, and arrive at their single destination together.
- Vice versa, a pair of trains may depart together from the same terminus, be separated en route, and then continue to separate destinations.
Two trains may each depart from separate termini, be coupled together, and later separated, en route, and then continue to separate destinations.
A train may depart from a terminus, be coupled en route to another train departing from the point where the coupling occurs, and then the two trains will continue together to their single destination, thus providing a longer train for a busier portion of the route (or vice versa).
A train may depart from a terminus, and divide at a station en route, with both portions then continuing to the same destination, but the first running an express stopping pattern, and the second part stopping more frequently. In the reverse of this, the second portion is the faster of the two, catching up the slow train at the point where they join.

Issues

For portion working to be successful, the operator may need to address many issues. For example:

Locations for coupling and uncoupling must be designated.
The best combinations of services must be carefully considered.
Coupling and uncoupling takes time.
Portion working can transfer disruption from one section to the wider network.^[2]

Dividing trains can sometimes cause issues for unwary travellers, who may board the wrong car and thus arrive at an unexpected destination.^[3]

Examples

Australia

Canberra Monaro Express – Sydney Central to Canberra and Cooma dividing at Queanbeyan (1955–73 and 1986–88)
NSW TrainLink Northern Tablelands Xplorer – Sydney Central to Armidale and Moree dividing at Werris Creek (1941–84 and 1993–present)

Belgium

IC trains between Genk and Knokke or Blankenberge (IC 1527–1542) used to be divided in Bruges, the front part went to Knokke (IC 1627–1642) while the rest continued to Blankenberge and the same occurred on the return leg (IC 1505–1520). The consists were either made up with AM96 EMU's (enable passage from set coach to another) or M6 coaches hauled by Class 19 locomotives. In the latter case, cab cars and engines are fitted with automatic couplers to allow quick separation. On periods with high affluence or when facing problems, these IC trains could run entirely to one destination (usually Blankenberghe) and another trainset was provided for the leg between Bruges and Knokke. This dual service ended with the new transport timetable introduced in December 2017. Now, separate trains are used for each destination.^[4]
despite not being advertised as coupling trains, some IC trains between Lille Flandres and Tournai are then coupled with one or two AM96 trainsets going from Tournai or Kortrijk to Namur, therefore allowing to travel directly from Lille to Namur.^[5]
The same happens with IC trains Between Lille Flandres and Mouscron. At Mouscron, they are coupled with AM96 multiple units which then run IC trains between Mouscron and Antwerp Centraal.^[5]

Canada

Route^[6]	From	Dividing at	Destination
Montreal–Senneterre train	Montreal Central Station	Hervey-Jonction station	Senneterre station
Montreal–Jonquière train	Montreal Central Station	Hervey-Jonction station	Jonquière station

Germany

There are several dividing regional and high-speed trains all over Germany. ICE trains from Munich often split at Hanover into sections for Bremen and for Hamburg. ICE from Berlin split at Hamm into sections for Cologne and for Düsseldorf.
Munich S-Bahn: Line S1 serves both Freising and Munich Airport by splitting at Neufahrn bei Freising station
Hanover Stadtbahn: In the evenings and on Sundays the lines 2 and 8 of Hanover's light rail system work with dividing trains. Trains start in Alte Heide as line 2 and divide in Peiner Straße stop. One part continues as line 8 to Messe Nord, the other as line 2 to Rethen. In the other direction, trains reconnect at Bothmerstraße station and run as line 2 to Alte Heide.
Hamburg S-Bahn: The trains on the line S1 of Hamburg's S-Bahn system usually split at Ohlsdorf into sections for Hamburg Airport and for Poppenbüttel.
Since 2014, the Regional-Express services RE 1 Mannheim–Saarbrücken–Trier–Koblenz and RE 11 Luxembourg City–Trier–Koblenz operate jointly with trains dividing in Trier main station. The RE 1 part is operated by the German DB Regio South-West with a Stadler FLIRT single-deck EMU as part of the Süwex network, while the RE 11 part is operated by the Luxembourgish Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois with a double-deck Stadler KISS EMU. This is probably the only situation where a single-deck and a double-deck train of two countries' national railways divide
Since 2018, the Regional-Express service RE 7 Hamburg–Elmshorn–Neumünster–Kiel/Flensburg is split in Neumünster with the front train continuing to Kiel, the rear to Flensburg.

Japan

There are several dividing train services in Japan, and each route has its own name.

Route	From	Dividing at	Destination	Remarks
Komachi	Tokyo Station	Morioka Station	Akita Station	Shinkansen high-speed train services
Hayabusa	Tokyo Station	Morioka Station	Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station	Shinkansen high-speed train services
Sunrise Izumo	Tokyo Station	Okayama Station	Izumoshi Station	Overnight sleeper services
Sunrise Seto	Tokyo Station	Okayama Station	Takamatsu Station	Overnight sleeper services
Narita Express	Narita Airport	Tokyo Station	Yokohama, Ōfuna	Airport rail link
Narita Express	Narita Airport	Tokyo Station	Shinjuku, Ōmiya, Takao	Airport rail link

United Kingdom

The practice of portion working has been followed for a long time on the third rail network of lines in the South East of England, and has been more widely practised in continental Europe.^[2] Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the practice has been less common, because of a general reluctance to design the necessary modern signalling systems, and because of legal constraints on competition between operators.^[7]

Dividing trains operate on several lines on the British railway network, commonly (although not exclusively) in the south of the country. To ensure consistent journey times, the front part of a dividing train usually becomes the rear of the returning service when it reunites.

In addition, some services discard carriages part-way along the route, & pick them back up on the return journey. This may be because a portion of the line has short platforms at a number of its stations, or because of demand being much higher on one section than another.

Route	From	Dividing at	Destination	Remarks
Arun Valley line ^[8]	London Victoria	Crawley or Horsham	Front part non-stop to Barnham, then major stations to Portsmouth Harbour or Southampton Central	On Sundays calls at all stations to Barnham & divides there.
Arun Valley line ^[8]	London Victoria	Crawley or Horsham	Rear part most or all stations to Bognor Regis
Caledonian Sleeper ^[9] (Lowland)	London Euston	Carstairs	Front part to Edinburgh Waverley
Caledonian Sleeper ^[9] (Lowland)		Carstairs	Rear part to Glasgow Central
Caledonian Sleeper (Highland)		Edinburgh Waverley	Front part to Inverness
			Middle part to Aberdeen
			Rear part to Fort William
Cambrian Coast Line	Birmingham New Street	Machynlleth	Front part to Aberystwyth	Both parts call at Dovey Junction, but use separate platforms & therefore must divide one stop earlier.
Cambrian Coast Line	Birmingham New Street	Machynlleth	Rear part to Pwllheli
Caterham line Tattenham Corner line	London Bridge (some peak-time trains start from Victoria)^[10]	Purley	Front part to Caterham	Colloquially known as the "Cat & Tat". Was the most common service pattern on the branches from Purley before resignalling work made them an extension of the Brighton Main Line local tracks.
Caterham line Tattenham Corner line		Purley	Rear part to Tattenham Corner
Chatham Main Line ^[11]	London Victoria	Faversham	Front part to Ramsgate
Chatham Main Line ^[11]	London Victoria	Faversham	Rear part to Dover Priory
South West Main Line	London Waterloo	Southampton Central or Bournemouth	Front 5 carriages to Weymouth	Most Dorset stations beyond Bournemouth have short platforms, while as far as Poole the front train forms the principal express service on a heavily trafficked line, with the back train operates as a stopping service.
		Southampton Central or Bournemouth	Last 5 carriages to Poole or Bournemouth
		Eastleigh	Front 5 carriages to Poole	Sunday service
		Eastleigh	Rear 5 carriages to Portsmouth Harbour	Sunday service
West of England Main Line	London Waterloo	Salisbury	Front part to Exeter St Davids
West of England Main Line	London Waterloo	Salisbury	Rear part terminates at Salisbury

United States

Amtrak routes
Route	From	Dividing at	Destination	Remarks
Empire Builder	Chicago	Spokane	Seattle
Empire Builder	Chicago	Spokane	Portland
Lake Shore Limited	Chicago	Albany–Rensselaer	Boston South Station
Lake Shore Limited	Chicago	Albany–Rensselaer	New York
Texas Eagle	Los Angeles	San Antonio	Chicago	The division occurs only for the Sunset Limited's three weekly round trips. The Texas Eagle runs an additional four round trips per week between San Antonio and Chicago alone.
Sunset Limited	Los Angeles	San Antonio	New Orleans
Former Amtrak routes
James Whitcomb Riley	Chicago	Charlottesville	Washington, D.C.	1971–1976
James Whitcomb Riley	Chicago	Charlottesville	Newport News	1971–1976
Floridian	Chicago	Jacksonville	St. Petersburg	1971–1979
Floridian	Chicago	Jacksonville	Miami	1971–1979
National Limited	Kansas City	Harrisburg (pre-1978); Philadelphia (post-1978)	New York	1971–1979
National Limited	Kansas City	Harrisburg (pre-1978); Philadelphia (post-1978)	Washington, D.C.	1971–1979
Lone Star	Chicago	Fort Worth	Dallas	1975–1976, 1977–1979
Lone Star	Chicago	Fort Worth	Houston	1975–1976, 1977–1979
Inter-American	Chicago	Temple	Houston	1979–1981
Inter-American	Chicago	Temple	Laredo	1979–1981
Pioneer	Chicago	Ogden; Denver (post-1991)	Seattle	1980–1997
San Francisco Zephyr and California Zephyr			Oakland
Desert Wind			Los Angeles
River Cities	New Orleans	Carbondale	Kansas City	1984–1993
City of New Orleans	New Orleans	Carbondale	Chicago	1984–1993
Gulf Breeze	New York	Birmingham	Mobile	1989–1995
Crescent	New York	Birmingham	New Orleans	1989–1995

Related Research Articles

The Deutsche Bahn AG is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company (AG) and the largest railway company in the world.

Intercity Express is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It is the flagship of the German state railway, Deutsche Bahn. ICE fares are fixed for station-to-station connections, on the grounds that the trains have a higher level of comfort. Travelling at speeds up to 320 km/h (200 mph), they are aimed at business travellers and long-distance commuters and marketed by Deutsche Bahn as an alternative to flights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss Federal Railways</span> National railway company of Switzerland

Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">InterCity</span> Type of long-distance passenger trains

InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains generally call at major stations only.

The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network comprised 45 trains, connecting 130 different cities, from Spain in the west to Austria in the east, and from Denmark to Southern Italy.

The Arun Valley line, also known as the Mid Sussex line, is part of the Southern- and Thameslink-operated railway services. For the initial part of the route trains follow the Brighton Main Line, and at a junction south of Three Bridges the route turns westwards. It then runs via Crawley, Horsham and Arundel, before meeting the West Coastway line at Arundel Junction. Trains on the Arun Valley line then proceed to either Bognor Regis, Portsmouth & Southsea or Southampton Central.

The Mid-Cheshire line is a railway line in the north-west of England that runs from Chester to Edgeley Junction, Stockport; it connects Chester with Manchester Piccadilly, via Knutsford. After Chester Northgate closed in 1969, the section between Mickle Trafford Junction and Chester was used for freight trains only until it closed in 1992; from Mickle Trafford, passenger trains use the Chester–Warrington line to Chester General instead. The route taken by passenger trains has changed over the years and now differs considerably from the original. Between 2001 and 2014, passenger journeys on the line increased to over 1.7 million per year. A near doubling of the passenger service was expected to occur from December 2018, however this did not materialise.

The ICE 2 is the second series of German high-speed trains and one of six in the Intercity-Express family since 1995. The ICE 2 (half-) trains are even closer to a conventional push–pull train than the ICE 1, because each train consists of only one locomotive, six passenger cars and a cab car. The maximum speed is 280 km/h (175 mph), but this is limited to 250 km/h (155 mph) when the cab car is leading the train and even further down to 160 km/h (100 mph) when two units are coupled at the powerheads due to the forces on the overhead line by their respective pantographs.

City Night Line, abbreviated CNL, was a train category of German railway company Deutsche Bahn for overnight passenger train services between Germany and neighbouring European countries. In late 2015, Deutsche Bahn announced that it planned to terminate all night train services in December 2016, and this plan was implemented on 11 December 2016. The service on some CNL routes was replaced by ÖBB Nightjet services.

The Voralpen-Express (VAE) is a named train connecting small to medium-sized cities and villages in Central and Eastern Switzerland, carrying this name since 1992. It is operated by Südostbahn (SOB) and runs every hour as an InterRegio (IR) between St. Gallen and Lucerne, bypassing Zurich. Its name derives from the fact that it traverses the Prealps.

The DBAG Class 605, commonly known as the ICE TD is a high-speed diesel multiple unit (DMU) train, formerly in service with Deutsche Bahn and DSB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsh Railway</span>

The Marsh Railway is a main line in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany that links the stations of Elmshorn in the south and Westerland on the island of Sylt in the north. It is part of 237 km (147 mi) long route from Hamburg-Altona to Westerland (Sylt) and is listed in the Deutsche Bahn timetables as Kursbuchstrecke 130. The first part of it was opened in 1845 and is one of the oldest lines in Germany.

France has a large network of high-speed rail lines. As of June 2021, the French high-speed rail network comprises 2,800 km (1,740 mi) of tracks, making it one of the largest in Europe and the world. As of early 2023, new lines are being constructed or planned. The first French high-speed railway, the LGV Sud-Est, linking the suburbs of Paris and Lyon, opened in 1981 and was at that time the only high-speed rail line in Europe.

Intercity (IC) is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the Intercity Express (ICE). Intercity services are locomotive-hauled express trains, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany and routes generally operate every other hour, with multiple routes giving a more frequent service on core routes. Intercity services are operated by the DB Fernverkehr division of Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway.

Sydney Trains is the operator and brand name of the train network serving the Greater Sydney metropolitan area in New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers 369 km (229 mi) of route length over 813 km (505 mi) of track, with 170 stations on eight lines.

The Gottardo was an express train that, for most of its existence, linked Zurich, Switzerland, with Milan, Italy. Introduced in 1961, it was a first-class-only Trans Europ Express (TEE) until 1988, then becoming a EuroCity service and finally a EuroNight service – on a longer route, to Rome – before being discontinued in 2002. The train followed the Gotthard railway and was named for the line, using the Italian spelling for it, Ferrovia del Gottardo.

The class 96 is an electric multiple unit constructed in 1996 for the National Railway Company of Belgium.

The Intercity Nieuwe Generatie, or ICNG is an electric multiple unit trainset of the Dutch Railways. In addition to supplementing the existing intercity rolling stock, it will replace the Bombardier TRAXX locomotives and Intercityrijtuig coaches on the high-speed line between Amsterdam and Belgium. This will provide the connection that was originally planned to be provided by the Fyra service, which was cancelled in 2013.

The InterCity are mainline trains in Switzerland connecting the country's major agglomerations, the range of services of which is located between InterRegio (IR) and EuroCity (EC). These trains are generally equipped with air-conditioned equipment, a CFF restaurant or a CFF bistro, a mini-bar service, a quiet area and a business area in 1st class as well as a family area or, occasionally, a family car in 2nd class.

References

↑ Richard Stokes (executive producer); David Dore (writer, narrator) (1989). British Rail signalling: part 1 (video). British Railways Board. Event occurs at 20:37. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
1 2 "Further written evidence from Jonathan Tyler, Passenger Transport Networks (HSR 138A)". House of Commons. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
↑ Christian, Maxwell (May 2012). "The Colonel's Extracts: The Pain of the Dividing Train" . Retrieved 26 August 2013.
↑ "Plan de transport de décembre 2017 : Flandre occidentale". belgianrail.be (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2017.
1 2 "BeLuxTrains en français".
↑ "VIA Rail Remote Services Timetables" (PDF). railpassengers.org. Rail Passengers Association. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
↑ "The Potential for Increased On-Rail Competition" (PDF). Renaissance Trains/Office of Rail Regulation UK. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
↑ https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables, see Table 28
↑ "Caledonian Sleeper timetables & tickets" (PDF). First ScotRail. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)^{[ permanent dead link ]}
↑ https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables, see Table 38
↑ "Mainline train times 3: Kent Mainline via Chatham". Southeastern. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[br-signal-video-1] Richard Stokes (executive producer); David Dore (writer, narrator) (1989). British Rail signalling: part 1 (video). British Railways Board. Event occurs at 20:37. Retrieved 26 August 2013.

[PTN-2] 1 2 "Further written evidence from Jonathan Tyler, Passenger Transport Networks (HSR 138A)". House of Commons. Retrieved 15 February 2013.

[maxwell-christian-3] Christian, Maxwell (May 2012). "The Colonel's Extracts: The Pain of the Dividing Train" . Retrieved 26 August 2013.

[4] "Plan de transport de décembre 2017 : Flandre occidentale". belgianrail.be (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2017.

[:0-5] 1 2 "BeLuxTrains en français".

[6] "VIA Rail Remote Services Timetables" (PDF). railpassengers.org. Rail Passengers Association. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2024.

[rentrains-7] "The Potential for Increased On-Rail Competition" (PDF). Renaissance Trains/Office of Rail Regulation UK. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.

[8] ttps://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables, see Table 28

[caledonian-sleeper-tt-9] "Caledonian Sleeper timetables & tickets" (PDF). First ScotRail. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)^{[ permanent dead link ]}

[10] ttps://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/timetables, see Table 38

[se-tt-11] "Mainline train times 3: Kent Mainline via Chatham". Southeastern. 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]