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End of the Hamburg - Copenhagen Train Ferry

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YorkshireBear

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Being reported in this months Modern Railways that the rail ferry service on the Hamburg-Copenhagen route (Fehmarnbelt Ferry) is to be stopped from the December Timetable change. Apparently due to the volume of engineering works being undertaken to facilitate the new fixed link trains were being diverted via Jutland for a lot of this year anyway and so the decision has been taken to stop the service early.

A great shame, I was previously led to believe it would survive until shortly before the fixed link opened and was planning on doing it in a few years time. I am in Hamburg for the weekend in December just before it stops for good and am very tempted to go on it, but I don't think I will have the time which again is a shame. I believe this will leave the ferry from the Italian Mainland to Sicily as the only all year round passenger train ferry in Europe, with the BErlin to Malmo sleeper in the summer months being the only other one. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

For anyone wanting to do it before the end, engineering work means the only chance left to do the trip is 1st October to 14th December.
 
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LNW-GW Joint

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I've done both the Fehmarn and Messina train ferries in recent years, both very interesting operations.
The train drives straight onto the Fehmarn ships, and it's quite an efficient operation.
At Messina there is quite a bit of faffing about, splitting the train and shunting the two portions onto the ferry, and again on the other side.
The train reverses on the mainland side. Efficient it is not, for 2 trains each way per day (maybe with more crossings for freight wagons).
On both crossings you have to leave the train and go on deck with the train locked.
It takes 2 hours between arriving at Villa San Giovanni and leaving Messina, 3 miles away.
Trenitalia want to discontinue the Messina train ferry, but the government won't let them, particularly as the mooted replacement bridge is as far away as ever, mainly because of earthquake and environmental concerns.
The crossings themselves (30-45 mins) are a nice break from the train, the Fehmarn ships are well appointed, while the Messina crossing is highly scenic.
 

30907

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Just to clarify: until 1 October, apart from odd days, the trains are running via the ferry as far as Nykoebing/Falster, with RRB thence.
 

Shinkansenfan

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What is RRB?

I’d like to take one last ride this September if possible. Will it be running?

This ferry featured in one of the scenes in the German movie Zugvogel. Pity it is ending much earlier than the opening of the new fixed link.
 

AlexNL

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I’d like to take one last ride this September if possible. Will it be running?

There are rail replacement buses between Nykøbing F and stations further to the north (which routes are closed varies, they're gradually resuming more and more services). There are also direct rail replacement buses between Rødby and Copenhagen H, which aren't even that much slower than the through train is.

The train currently runs Hamburg - Nykøbing Falster, so if it's just the ferry portion you're after you can do that today. If you want to do the entire Copenhagen - Hamburg journey by train, services will resume on the 29th of September.
 

Welly

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I'm glad I did that Fehmarn ferry crossing back in July 2014! It was very pleasant both ways. Here is a photo of passengers getting off the train on board the "Prince Richard"

DSC_0825.jpg
 

AlexNL

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I'm glad I did that Fehmarn ferry crossing back in July 2014!
Back then it was still operated with diesel ICEs. Nowadays the service is operated by Danish IC3 DMUs, excellent units if I may say so. Very comfortable!
 

Bletchleyite

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Back then it was still operated with diesel ICEs. Nowadays the service is operated by Danish IC3 DMUs, excellent units if I may say so. Very comfortable!

Are the IC3s back? Absolutely wonderful things - the nicest interior of any unit anywhere. And with a very BR (NSE) esque interior with the vehicle end murals and the likes - one of them is (or was) actually named after a BR designer who they got the idea from.

And the seats...no other train I know of (bar the Mk2 lounge cars on the CS) has sofas.

Shall have to do it again. I've only done Puttgarden and back in 1999 or 2000 or thereabouts - watched it go onto the ferry before going for a wander round the, er, non-place that it is (not even a paper shop). The border police (Denmark wasn't in Schengen back then) had difficulty believing that I was actually going to get off, and watched very suspiciously to ensure that I did!
 

306024

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Back then it was still operated with diesel ICEs. Nowadays the service is operated by Danish IC3 DMUs, excellent units if I may say so. Very comfortable!

Yes excellent units, plus free coffee flasks in first class to help yourself from.

Sorry to see the ferry working ceasing, many happy journeys across there. Wonder if there will be any sort of ceremony on the last day.
 

AlexNL

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Are the IC3s back?
Yes, since the end of 2016 if memory serves me right. The ICE TDs were coming up for a midlife revision and DB didn't want to pay for that, so they got withdrawn from service completely. They've even been offered for sale (but nobody bought them). I've used the Copenhagen -> Hamburg train 1.5 years ago, and I was really impressed with these units.

Cheeky lil' pic of the unit that brought me from Copenhagen to Germany:
upload_2019-7-2_23-55-36.png

Approaching the ferry at Rødby:
upload_2019-7-2_23-57-1.png

Rolling onto it...
upload_2019-7-3_0-0-24.png

On board the boat, heading for the deck:
upload_2019-7-2_23-56-13.png

And arrived in Puttgarden roughly an hour later:
upload_2019-7-2_23-57-43.png


It's sad to hear that this experience is going to come to an end. I'm very tempted to book a journey to (re)enjoy it while it lasts.
 

bluenoxid

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If you’re in Hamburg, don’t forget to try Miniatur Wunderland.
 

AlbertBeale

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This is bad news - I've been meaning to go to Copenhagen via that route for a while...

Years back I did the journey across Denmark from the mainland (Jutland), via Funen (the big island in the middle), to Zealand (the island with Copenhagen on it) at least a couple of times - this was in the days before all those connections were tunnels and bridges, and the trains just drove onto a boat and off the other side to get across the water. It was all very quick and efficient, as I remember it. If the Hamburg-Copenhagen route, talked about here, is similarly efficient, then I'll be sorry to miss it ... though I might try to make a trip before the end of the year...

The distance to be bridged for the Hamburg-Copenhagen route can't be much more than that going between Funen and Zealand, or the more recent link from Copenhagen to Malmo, so I suppose it was inevitable that it would happen one day. But I still rather wish they wouldn't... (Anyone have any idea what the Hamburg-Copenhagen journey time would be once this connection was built?) Is it to carry a road as well as a railway? Also, if the train ferry is closed during the period the link is being built, will there still be a rail-boat connection anyway, until the link is ready, with easy station-dockside interchange, albeit that you have to talk onto the boat?!

Until the relatively recent Copenhagen-Malmo bridge, there was a perfectly good Denmark-Sweden train connection via the long-running train ferry on the narrower stretch of water between Elsinore (in Denmark - north of Copenhagen on Zealand) and Helsingborg (in Sweden). I did an international journey via that link years ago and was astounded at the speed and efficiency - as I remember it, the train just charged straight onto the boat, which was nuzzled tightly against the dock with the tracks lined up, and then the boat was off and away almost before the train had stopped. (Well, that's my memory anyway...)

In response to an earlier post, yes, I think the Sicily link in Italy will be the last train ferry left in Europe after Copenhagen-Hamburg is stopped. And of course that's a much slower operation, and not only because of the - ahem - cultural differences, but also because of the layout. Instead of driving forwards onto the boat, they are hauled into holding sidings (after a change of loco, I think, because of lack of OHLE in the shunting area close to the boat), and then reversed onto the boat. But since the lengthy long-distance trains have to be split into at least three segments and put onto different tracks on the boat, the loco pushes the back coaches on, which are uncoupled, and then runs forward with the remainder of the train, past the points, and then backs the next batch onto a different track on the boat, and so on. Interesting even if not speedy.
 

Catracho

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The Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link is actually going to be a tunnel, not a bridge. Four-lane motorway + double track railway. The rail journey is expected to be cut down to 3h and 15 minutes.
 

AlexNL

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But I still rather wish they wouldn't... (Anyone have any idea what the Hamburg-Copenhagen journey time would be once this connection was built?) Is it to carry a road as well as a railway? Also, if the train ferry is closed during the period the link is being built, will there still be a rail-boat connection anyway, until the link is ready, with easy station-dockside interchange, albeit that you have to talk onto the boat?!
The railway is being upgraded all the way from Copenhagen to Hamburg. Once all that is finished, I think an end to end journey time of 3.5hrs is feasible.

New tracks are built (Ringsted high speed line, finished recently), bridges will be replaced, electrification, and changes to the alignment to facilitate higher speeds.

To facilitate the upgrade, German railways are planning a multi-year closure of the Lübeck-Puttgarden route to facilitate the upgrade on their end. The route should reopen when the tunnel is ready.

The tunnel itself will be dual mode: it will have a 110 km/h motorway (65mph) and a 200 km/h railway (125mph).
 

YorkshireBear

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Can you imagine the British Government shutting a line for several years in the interest of an upgrade. No wonder the germans do it cheaper.

My better half has suggested we separate from our friends and do this trip as she realises it will be last opportunity for me to do it. Will look at prices and take her up on the offer I think.
 

AlexNL

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The local authorities are sourcing 'high quality' rail replacement buses (toilets, wifi, plug sockets). As the buses will be running for a couple of years, they want to offer a qualitative alternative to the commuters who use the railway in order to keep them 'in the system'. They don't want to chase them away to private vehicles.

If you have any chance of making a trip, I would definitely recommend you do so. As you say, it's the last chance you'll get.

Regarding prices; Deutsche Bahn sell a single Hamburg -> Copenhagen from € 29,90 (£ 26,78) in 2nd class. For a 5 hour train journey including a ferry crossing, that's an absolute bargain. If you've got the chance I'd also recommend spending some time in Copenhagen, it's a lovely city.
 

AlbertBeale

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The railway is being upgraded all the way from Copenhagen to Hamburg. Once all that is finished, I think an end to end journey time of 3.5hrs is feasible.

New tracks are built (Ringsted high speed line, finished recently), bridges will be replaced, electrification, and changes to the alignment to facilitate higher speeds.

To facilitate the upgrade, German railways are planning a multi-year closure of the Lübeck-Puttgarden route to facilitate the upgrade on their end. The route should reopen when the tunnel is ready.

The tunnel itself will be dual mode: it will have a 110 km/h motorway (65mph) and a 200 km/h railway (125mph).

Thanks for the info. Though since the current journey is under 5 hours, and a good hour of that is the ferry connection, then bringing it down to 3.5 hours suggests the lines on each side won't be that much faster than today. Still, anything that allows a London-Copenhagen journey within one day without arriving quite so late in the evening in Copenhagen is good; though I wish the sleepers to Denmark hadn't disappeared...

I like the idea of a high-quality bus link while the line on the German side is closed. But presumably that's because of the locals, and Hamburg commuters, etc, and won't link with a ferry.
 

superjohn

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But presumably that's because of the locals, and Hamburg commuters, etc, and won't link with a ferry.
The ferry runs every thirty minutes most of the time (hourly during the very early hours of the morning) so connections will be close regardless of when the bus operates.

I did the trip earlier this year. On the return journey a problem with the German signalling radio system forced us to use a substitute bus from Puttgarden to Lübeck. While they were making arrangements for the bus I overheard the DB crew saying there were 48 passengers on the six car unit. Admittedly that was in the low season but with that level of patronage I couldn’t see the through service surviving much longer, with or without the engineering work.

Even in the peak season large numbers of passengers are probably on Interrail/Eurrail tickets which give minimal revenue share to the service.

The journey will still be possible using the ferry as a foot passenger and trains at each end. Just as with nearly every other ferry crossing in Europe.
 
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JonathanP

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Can you imagine the British Government shutting a line for several years in the interest of an upgrade. No wonder the germans do it cheaper.

I would agree than in Germany it's easier and more common to close lines temporarily or permanently, but I would also point out that this upgrade project isn't comparable to anything that ever has been attempted in this country, to my knowledge. In fact I would say it's less of an upgrade than a completely new railway that just happens to use some of the old one. It will be transformed from a sleepy single track branch line which apart from the Copenhagen trains mostly sees 2 car DMUs to a "higher speed" main line. 55 of the 88km will be replaced with a completely new alignment, in addition to the whole thing being converted from double track and electrified.

This means some of the communities on the southern part of the route will lose their rail service permanently. I have fond memories of using this line to reach the beaches along the bay, but in a few years this will be over too.
 

AlexNL

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I overheard the DB crew saying there were 48 passengers on the six car unit. Admittedly that was in the low season but with that level of patronage I couldn’t see the through service surviving much longer, with or without the engineering work.
It's probably one of those services that wouldn't make much sense on their own, but that are viable due to the number of passengers using it for intermediate stops.

I used it going CPH->Hamburg in December 2017, I had the 11:35 on a Saturday. The train was quite full when leaving CPH, but patronage dropped as we got closer and closer to Rødby. On the other side of the water, it started filling up again as we got closer to Hamburg.

Once the upgrades are complete and the tunnel is open, I expect ridership to increase significantly. The crossing will only take 7 minutes by train, compared to the 45 minutes it takes by boat. That, together with speed increases and electrification, will make the railway much more attractive.
 

Shinkansenfan

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There are rail replacement buses between Nykøbing F and stations further to the north (which routes are closed varies, they're gradually resuming more and more services). There are also direct rail replacement buses between Rødby and Copenhagen H, which aren't even that much slower than the through train is.

The train currently runs Hamburg - Nykøbing Falster, so if it's just the ferry portion you're after you can do that today. If you want to do the entire Copenhagen - Hamburg journey by train, services will resume on the 29th of September.

Thanks, AlexNL: for me the appeal of this service is the train driving onto and off the ferry. Other such ferry links such as across the Great Belt route or the short ferry from Helsingor have been lost. I did see the former DSB Great Belt ferry still in service under different use when I was in Malta traveling to Gozo.

I'm thinking of either a roundtrip from Hamburg to Nykobing Falster (two ferry rides) or flying into Copenhagen and taking a one way ferry ride via regional train to Nykobing Falster, then rail replacement bus, then joining the train to Hamburg.

Attached are some screenshots of the Puttgarden to Rodby ferry from the German movie Zugvogel. The main character is a beer truck driver from Dortmund who is making his way to Inari, Finland to attend the first ever Thomas Cook International Timetable Competition as a contestent. The ferry is part of his journey and plot.

vlcsnap-2019-07-06-10h41m45s518.png vlcsnap-2019-07-06-10h38m30s843.png vlcsnap-2019-07-06-10h38m49s288.png vlcsnap-2019-07-06-10h39m57s555.png
 

jamesontheroad

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We’ll be on this route in less than three weeks as we start our self-imposed “Brexile” in Sweden. Very pleased to be making the entire trip by train.

If anyone plans to take the train before it ceases in December, be sure to make a reservation: Sweden’s flygskam (“flightshame”) movement has contributed to a massive year-on-year growth of Interail sales in Sweden. A recent Guardian article described Hamburg Hbf packed with cheery Swedes heading off on holiday. While apparently an improvement on the DB ICE-D, the DSB ICE3 are only three carriages and they tend to fill up at peak times.
 

AlexNL

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While apparently an improvement on the DB ICE-D, the DSB ICE3 are only three carriages and they tend to fill up at peak times.
The full-length Hamburg - Copenhagen train is scheduled to run with two IC3 trains coupled together, which provide more capacity than an ICE-TD ever did. With the ongoing engineering works the train has been reduced to a single unit, probably as it doesn't have to convey Danish domestic passengers.

I would always recommend to book a seat when you're making a long journey. It gives peace of mind and you don't have to move seats after every couple of stops. Deutsche Bahn charge a € 4,50 reservation fee per booking in 2nd class, in 1st class seat reservations are included in the price.
 

AlbertBeale

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We’ll be on this route in less than three weeks as we start our self-imposed “Brexile” in Sweden. Very pleased to be making the entire trip by train.

If anyone plans to take the train before it ceases in December, be sure to make a reservation: Sweden’s flygskam (“flightshame”) movement has contributed to a massive year-on-year growth of Interail sales in Sweden. A recent Guardian article described Hamburg Hbf packed with cheery Swedes heading off on holiday. While apparently an improvement on the DB ICE-D, the DSB ICE3 are only three carriages and they tend to fill up at peak times.

Thanks for the tip about a reservation. I'm going to use the ferry in at least one direction between Hamburg and Copenhagen in November ... once I've dealt with the problem of engineering work at Brussels causing difficulty with my London-Hamburg booking!
 

Shinkansenfan

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Will EuroCity 35 (Hamburg to Copenhagen) operate over the new high speed line (Ringsted to Copenhagen) when through service resumes 29 September? According to Bahn.de there are no intermediate stops between Ringsted and Copenhagen shown for that train.

If so, this would be an excellent time to take a last ride on the train ferry and ride over some new trackage on one journey!
 

AlexNL

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I've had a look at the Deutsche Bahn planner and compared a journey in October with one a couple of months ago, and it looks like the train will indeed be taking the new route.
 
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