A motorail train or accompanied car train (ACT) is a passenger train on which passengers can take their car or automobile along with them on their journey. Passengers are carried in normal passenger carriages or in sleeping carriages on longer journeys, while the cars are loaded into autoracks, car-carriers, or flatcars that normally form part of the same train.
Motorail services are not the same as car shuttle trains or car-carrying train services. Car shuttle trains usually operate over relatively short distances, on lines passing through a rail tunnel and connecting two places not easily accessible to each other by road. On car shuttle train services, unlike on motorail services, the occupants of the road vehicles being carried on the train usually stay with their vehicle throughout the rail journey.
Examples
Europe
In Europe, many motorail connections are running cross-border between different European countries. To be mentioned are trains between Austria—Germany, Austria—Italy, Germany—Italy, Czech Republic—Slovakia and Serbia—Montenegro. Some domestic services exist as well. Domestic motorail trains are running within Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Finland and France.
Almost all motorail services are offered in connection with overnight trains with sleeping cars.
Austria
Optima Express, 2010
In Austria, roughly half of the night trains of the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) (called ÖBB nightjet) include car-carrier wagons.[1] Most of the car-carrier wagons are running on a daily basis all-year-round to car terminals located in Austria (Vienna, Graz, Villach, Feldkirch, Innsbruck) and Germany (Hamburg, Düsseldorf). In addition, ÖBB nightjets from Vienna are serving one car terminal in Italy (Livorno) during the summer season. For the motorail services from Austria to Germany, ÖBB took over operations from DB AutoZug, a German motorail company which ceased operations.
Also seasonal is the Optima Express, a three-season service (spring, summer, autumn) between Villach in Austria and Edirne in Turkey with up to four trains each week in summer.
Germany
Motorail, railway station Neu-Isenburg, Germany, 2011Motorail train lines between Germany, Austria, Italy and Turkey (2018-2019)
In Germany, DB AutoZug offered motorail services for more than 70 years. DB AutoZug ceased to operate in October 2016 as these trains were not considered to be profitable.[2][3]
Four new motorail operators stepped in during 2015 and 2016, taking over the now abandoned motorail services claiming a sufficient market for motorail services in Germany and Central Europe. One of them (Euro-Express) left the market in late 2017, leaving three motorail operators in the German market: ÖBB, BTE and train4you.
Austrian railway (ÖBB) took over most motorail services from DB Autozug. ÖBB now (as of December 2018[update]) offers daily or almost daily motorail connections (under the brand name ÖBB nightjet) running from Germany to Austria. There are daily EuroNight overnight motorail trains from Vienna to Hamburg. In addition, similar services are offered from Düsseldorf to Innsbruck since December 2016.
Another motorail service abandoned by DB Autozug was taken over by BTE, a German rail tourism company, which is affiliated with the US-based Railroad Development Corporation (RDC). BTE took over the DB Autozug connection between Hamburg and Lörrach, offering all-year-round motorail services 1-4 times a week.
And finally, the German company train4you is offering - under the brand name Urlaubs-Express (UEX) - seasonal motorail trains between Hamburg and Düsseldorf on one side and Munich, Verona and Villach on the other side. They are running during the summer season[4] except for the motorail trains from and to Munich, which are bi-seasonal (summer & winter).
Italy
In Italy, Trenitalia operated national Motorail services, advertised as "Auto e moto al seguito". As of 12 December 2011, all of these services have been withdrawn.[5] After the withdrawal of motorail services by state-owned Trenitalia the private railway company Arenaways started overnight motorail trains running from Torino in the north of Italy to Reggio Calabria and Bari in the south. Talgo train coaches from RENFE group in Spain were used for the services.[6] After the bankruptcy of Arenaways in 2014 due to massively manipulated rules by state-owned Trenitalia to exclude the competitor from the market, all services were withdrawn.[7]
In 2019, there are seasonal international motorail trains, operating during the summer months only. German operator train4you operates motorail trains from Düsseldorf and Hamburg to Verona,[4] while state-owned Austrian railway ÖBB connects Livorno with the Austrian capital of Vienna.[8] The services are reduced in comparison to 2017 and 2018 which saw motorail trains operating from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Vienna to Verona and Livorno.
Netherlands
There were motorail services, called AutoSlaapTrein, which ran in the summer months from 's-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) in the Netherlands to Koper in Slovenia, to Alessandria and Livorno in Italy, and Frejus and Avignon in the South of France. EETC (Euro-Express trein charter), the owner of the AutoSlaapTrein, suspended their services in April 2015. Another Dutch company, the travel agency Treinreiswinkel, continued the Autoslaaptrein in May 2015 with a connection between Germany (Düsseldorf) and Verona. All these motorail trains were operated by Müller-Touristik-Group in Germany under the brand name Euro-Express. In 2018, the Euro-Express trains were canceled.
Turkey
The only motorail train of Turkey is running between Villach/Austria and Edirne/Turkey mainly for the Turkish workers abroad, passing through Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria. The whole journey completes 1400km in 30 hours. The train is operated by Optima Tours.[9]
Czech Republic & Slovakia
Currently, there is a daily all-year-round service between Prague and Košice, EN Slovakia, which also carries a motorail car between Prague and Poprad (for High Tatras). There is a seasonal service between Prague and Split (fasttrain Jadran) which took 24 hours, in seasons 2003–2005 weekly, in seasons 2007–2009 daily. This was running also in summer 2023.
Domestic motorail service between Bratislava and Humenné is also available in Slovakia.
A car loaded into a carriage on a train from Helsinki to Kolari. Drivers drive their own cars onto the train as instructed by VR, and then leave the car transport carriages on foot to board the passenger carriages.
In Finland, VR has a popular automobile-carrying service on its night trains between the south and the north; the service transports 35,000 automobiles a year. The service operates with trains originating from both Helsinki and Turku first stopping at Tampere; from there they follow the same line to the next stop in Oulu. Thereafter, the line splits with one line going up to Kolari and another line making stops at Rovaniemi and Kemijärvi. These trains also include sleeper cars allowing passengers to sleep well before driving the next morning.[10]
France
Auto-train, Biarritz, 2014
In France, the SNCF's Auto/train service[11] comprised several overnight automobile-carrying trains throughout France. In the past, all of the Auto/trains also carried sleeping cars. Later on, passengers traveled on a separate train to their automobiles. Typically, passengers dropped off their car any time during the day and then use a separate train to reach their destination, where they could pick up the car any time the following day.
This service used to be available between 13 railway stations: the Gare de Bercy in Paris is the main auto-train terminal. There were also terminals in the stations of Avignon (separate station), Biarritz, Bordeaux, Briançon, Brive, Fréjus-St-Raphaël (separate station), Lyon-Perrache, Marseille-Saint-Charles, Nice, Narbonne (separate station), Toulon, and Toulouse.[12] The automobiles were carried in open railcars. Other services used to be offered to the Auto Train service: a jockey to pick your car up at home, complementary insurances, free bus to leave the arrival station (such as Bercy, Avignon, or Fréjus) and free parking.
By the end of the 1990s PKP operated only a single motorail service on overnight trains between Gdynia and Zakopane. The service never gained essential popularity and ultimately was withdrawn in 2004. Among many factors which led to closure of this service, it was criticised for being too cumbersome: while in Zakopane the passengers' cars were available almost immediately, it took nearly two hours to load or unload cars in Gdynia.
Serbia
There is a Motorail service in Serbia along the following routes: Belgrade - Bar (throughout the year), Novi Sad - Bar (summer season only) and Belgrade - Thessaloniki (summer season only).[13]
Switzerland
In Switzerland, several car shuttle trains run, called Autoverlad; no motorail services exist.
British Rail operated Motorail services from 1955 serving various destinations, but had discontinued them by the time the state-owned body was wound up in the mid-1990s. The privatised train operator First Great Western went on to revive the service between London and Penzance in 1998, operating it until September 2005.
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Journey Beyond provides a Motorail service on its long-distance Indian Pacific between Adelaide and Perth, and The Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin.
The freight terminal at Ebisu Station was used as a terminal for car train services prior to its closure for redevelopment as the Ebisu Garden Place complex, at which point such services were moved to Hamamatsucho Station.
There were a number of problems with these services which contributed to their eventual cancellation, including fairly severe size restrictions on the vehicles that could be transported, lack of on-board dining facilities, revenue sharing issues between regional operating companies following the privatization of JR, and competition with both long-distance car ferries and combination air/rental car travel products.
The Americas
Canada
The Ontario Northland Railway's Auto Carrier Service has several chain cars that carry vehicles from Cochrane to Moosonee. The train used is referred to as the Polar Bear Express. The train typically carries 15 vehicles. It also allows palletized freight, personal effects, household goods, groceries, building material, and special vehicles (ATVs, UTVs, snowmobiles, boats, and canoes). Spaces are also available for small enclosed trailers, boat and snowmobile trailers. These may be brought on either boxcars or flatcars. 3000 cars are transported yearly, with regular motorail service several times a week. Larger trucks (1 ton and higher) may be brought on the train but through a different service. The Polar Bear Express is a popular service for those living in communities near the James Bay as no all season road exists to link Moosonee with the rest of Ontario. The train is also frequented by hunters travelling up North.
CN Rail operated the Car-Go Rail and Auto-With-You motorail services around the 1960s, but closed the service a few years after due to low popularity.
Amtrak operates their dedicated Auto Train between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando), a distance of 855 miles (1,376km). The train can carry upwards of 330 vehicles inside fully enclosed bilevel autoracks, allowing vehicles even as tall as SUVs with rooftop cargo boxes to fit inside. Special vehicles such as small trailers, limousines, jet-skis, trikes, and chopper motorcycles may be brought on for an extra fee. The train is commonly used by tourists travelling south for vacation to Florida.
Argentina
In Argentina, the transportation of cars by train was very popular for many years, but after the privatization of passenger services in the 1990s, most of the rail services were canceled.[20] Currently this service is provided only on the Tren Patagonico (Patagonian Train), which connects Viedma on the Atlantic coast with Bariloche in the Andes covering a distance of 800km, and on the Buenos Aires-Mar Del Plata line, connecting the capital of the country with the Atlantic coast in a distance of 400km.
An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport automobiles and light trucks. Autoracks are used to transport new vehicles from factories to automotive distributors, and to transport passengers' vehicles in car shuttles and motorail services, such as Amtrak's Auto Train route.
Motorail was the brand name for British Rail's long-distance services that carried passengers and their cars. During its latter years of operation, it was grouped under the wider InterCity sector.
DB Fernverkehr AG 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 name of DB Reise&Touristik and was renamed in 2003.
The Railroad Development Corporation is an American railroad holding company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It operates several short line railroads outside the United States and acts as an investor, with management and institutional investors as partners. It was founded in 1987 by former Conrail employee Henry Posner III.
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.
Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Wien Hauptbahnhof, Vienna Central Station or Vienna Main Station is the main railway station in Vienna, Austria, located in the Favoriten district. It became fully operational in December 2015, linking major railway lines from the north, east, south and west, and replacing the old Wien Südbahnhof terminus. With 268,000 daily commuters it is Austria's busiest long-distance railway station. Aside from being voted "Austria's most beautiful railway station", it was also second in Consumer Choice Center's ranking of "Top 10 Railway Stations for Passenger Convenience in Europe".
Railjet is a high-speed rail service in Europe operated by Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Czech Railways (ČD). Branded as Railjet Express (RJX) for the fastest services and as Railjet (RJ) for services with additional stops, it was introduced in 2008 and operates at speeds of up to 230 km/h (143 mph). Railjet is ÖBB's premier service and operates both domestically within Austria and on international services to adjacent major cities in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary and Slovakia.
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Innsbruck, the capital city of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol. Opened in 1853, the station is a major hub for western and central Austria. In 2019, it was the 8th-busiest station in the country, and the 2nd-busiest outside of Vienna after only Linz Hauptbahnhof, with 315 train movements and 38,500 passengers daily.
DB AutoZug GmbH was a German rail transport company that provided automobile (Motorail) and night passenger train services for Deutsche Bahn AG. It was based in Dortmund and was a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn AG. On 30 September 2013 the company was merged into DB AG's long-distance division DB Fernverkehr.
The Tauern Railway Tunnel in Austria is the longest tunnel of the Tauern Railway crossing the main chain of the Alps. Currently, it has a length of 8.371 kilometres (5.201 mi). The highest point of the tunnel, which is also the highest point in all of the railway line, is at 1,226 metres (4,022 ft) above sea level. The tunnel's north entrance is at Böckstein in the valley of Bad Gastein in the state of Salzburg, while the south entrance is near Mallnitz in Carinthia.
Villach Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Villach, the second largest city in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It primarily serves as a passenger station and is an important junction within the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) network.
Accompanied combined transport is a form of intermodal transport, which is the movement of goods in one and the same loading unit or road vehicle, using successively two or more modes of transport without handling the goods themselves in changing modes. More specifically, accompanied combined transport is one of the two types of combined transport, which is intermodal transport where the major part of the journey is by rail, inland waterways or sea, and any initial and/or final legs carried out by road are as short as possible.
A car shuttle train, or (sometimes) car-carrying train, is a shuttle train used to transport accompanied cars (automobiles), and usually also bicycles and other types of road vehicles, for a relatively short distance.
Bolzano/Bozen railway station is the main station of Bolzano/Bozen, capital of the autonomous province of Alto Adige/Südtirol, in northeastern Italy.
Brescia railway station is the main station of Brescia, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. The station, opened in 1854, lies on the Milan-Venice railway and is a terminus of three branch lines: Valcamonica Railway to Edolo, Bergamo–Brescia railway and Brescia–Piadena/Cremona railway which branches off towards southeast of the station.
Neu-Isenburg station is on the Rhine-Main S-Bahn in Neu-Isenburg in the German state of Hesse. It was opened on 1 November 1852 and is now served by S-Bahn and regional trains operated by Deutsche Bahn. Since 29 May 1961, it has been the only station in Hesse with a loading terminal for motorail trains. In addition, it has two bus stops, a taxi stand and a park and ride car park. The station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station.
The Vindobona is an international named passenger train which began service in 1957 between Berlin and Vienna via Dresden and Prague. In later years the route was extended to run from Hamburg via Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Brno and Vienna to Villach. It was named after the ancient settlement of Vindobona on the site of the modern city of Vienna. Labelled as a EuroCity train connection from 1993, services discontinued in 2014.
A shuttle train is a train that runs back and forth between two points, especially if it offers a frequent service over a short route. Shuttle trains are used in various ways, in various parts of the world. They commonly operate as a fixed consist, and run non-stop between their termini. They can be used to carry passengers, freight, or both.
Nightjet is a brand name given by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) to its overnight passenger train services.
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