train ferry

English

Noun

train ferry (plural train ferries)

1. (nautical, rail transport) A ferry used to transport rail vehicles from one railway line to another across a stretch of water.
   • 1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Icebound Denmark”, in Railway Magazine, page 302:

     Pack ice, at times mounting to a height of 35 ft., snow, fog, and floating mines all played their part in the disorganisation of railway services, and most of the train ferry services were completely suspended for a month or more; [...].

   • 1960 March, “Talking of Trains: London-Paris in four hours”, in Trains Illustrated, page 134:

     Even without the Channel tunnel, British Railways carry on a substantial exchange of traffic with the Continent by the various train ferries, which handle some 500,000 tons of cargo annually.

Related terms

• ferry van
• ferry wagon

Translations

ferry for rail vehicles

• Danish: jernbanefærge c
• Icelandic: lestarferja f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: jernbaneferge m or f, jernbaneferje m or f

  Nynorsk: jarnbaneferje f, jernbaneferje f

• Spanish: ferrobarco m

References

• “train ferry”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.