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89-455: This train service is the only Motorail service currently in Canada, with chaincars (flat cars with tie downs) for carrying cars and light trucks. There are no roads to Moosonee , so vehicles come in and out by train. It operates five days per week year-round and connects Cochrane with Moosonee . During the summer months there is an additional train on Sundays and the train often includes

178-694: A Family Bedroom for as many as two adults and two children; and an "Accessible Bedroom" (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion; plus toilets and a shower. The Viewliner cars contain an Accessible Bedroom (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion, with an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; two Bedrooms (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; "Roomettes" (formerly "Economy Bedrooms", "Standard Bedrooms", or "Compartments") for one or two travelers, each Roomette containing its own unenclosed toilet and washing facilities; and

267-593: A Motorail service on its Sunlander and Spirit of the Outback trains. The Victorian Railways formerly offered Motorail on The Vinelander , and Sunraysia services on the Mildura line . The New South Wales Railways (later the Public Transport Commission ) once offered Motorail services on its long-distance lines. Several overnight "car train" (カートレイン) services were operated by

356-581: A chance for travel, and it was a well regarded job in the African-American community of the time. The Pullman attendants, regardless of their true name, were traditionally referred to as "George" by the travelers, the name of the company's founder, George Pullman . The Pullman company was the largest employer of African Americans in the United States. Railway porters fought for political recognition and were eventually unionized. Their union,

445-443: A choice of single- or double-occupancy bedrooms. These services operate all week, except Saturdays and usually depart London from Euston and Paddington stations in the evening, arriving at their destinations at approximately 08:00. The Night Riviera service uses British Rail Mk3 sleeper coaches, whereas Caledonian Sleeper uses Mk5 coaches . In Canada, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Via Rail , using

534-641: 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. 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 1400 km in 30 hours. The train

623-522: A deluxe option with a private bathroom and shower. Night train numbers have been reduced significantly, as the quality of the rail infrastructure is declining and repairs are insufficient, which leads to longer ride times between cities. A journey from Gara de Nord station in Bucharest to Arad (599 km) usually lasts 11 hours 20 minutes when there are no delays. Most night trains in Romania cross

712-432: A distance of 855 miles (1,376 km). 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. In Argentina,

801-470: A full-length dome car . Prior to 2012, the train carried a full dining car during the summer. Tickets for the passenger service are sold by phone or at offices in Cochrane, Moosonee, Moose Factory and Timmins . The train will stop on demand in some locations as part of the flag stop service. The town of Cochrane recommends taking the train to Moosonee for a "great rail excursion" in summer, to view

890-616: 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. The service was discontinued in December 2019. In the early 1980s PKP offered motorail services between the following stations: Szczecin Dąbie , Trzebiatów , Gdynia Główna , Warszawa Główna , Poznań Główny , Katowice , Kraków Główny , and Zakopane . Services ran overnight and passengers were carried in sleeping cars and couchettes . By

979-415: A mixture of relatively new cars and refurbished mid-century ones; the latter cars include both private rooms and "open section" accommodations. In the United States, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Amtrak . Amtrak offers sleeping cars on most of its overnight trains, using modern cars of the private-room type exclusively. Today, Amtrak operates two main types of sleeping car:

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1068-777: A modest degree of innovation in the bogie suspension systems and the passenger compartment design. Some other post-Soviet nations rely more heavily on the rolling stock fleet inherited from the Union, to a large extent based on vintage life-prolonged cars assembled in East Germany or Soviet Latvia back in the 1980s. Modern, air-conditioned sleeping cars and couchette cars are part of Croatian Railways rolling stock. Croatian sleeping coaches include single, double or 4-bed compartments with washbasin and many additional hygienic accessories. Passengers also have catering services at their disposal and are given complimentary breakfast, depending on

1157-577: A practice used in Italy and Austria, adopted by the CFR in the early 2010s, thus enabling it to increase the capacity on sleeping trains. The sleeping cars of the CFR in the 1990s consisted of Bautzen and Görlitz-made sleeping cars, standard in the Eastern Bloc. They were replaced by Grivița-made WLABmee 71-70 and Hansa-made WLABmee 71–31, bought second-hand from Deutsche Bahn. The most recent sleeping cars are

1246-663: A private shower cubicle. In addition, each Superliner sleeping car has two special lower-level accommodations, each taking up the full width of the car: the Accessible Bedroom, at the restroom/shower end of the car (below the Deluxe Bedrooms), is a fully wheelchair-accessible accommodation for two, with a roll-in cubicle for the toilet and shower; the Family Bedroom, at the Economy Bedroom end of

1335-462: A shower room at the end of the car. China Railway operates an extensive network of conventional sleeper trains throughout the country, covering all provincial capitals and many major cities. The Chinese "hard" sleeping car in use today is very basic, consisting of 6 fixed bunk beds per compartment, which can be converted into seats in peak season. The middle level bunk bed will be folded and top level bunk bed will still be sold as sleeper, while

1424-453: A single car to increase the number of sleepers over a conventional sleeping car of private rooms. A Roomette , in the historically correct sense of the word, is a private room for a single passenger, containing a single seat, a folding bed, a toilet ( not in a private cubicle of its own), and a washbasin. When a traditional Roomette is in night mode, the bed blocks access to the toilet. Like open sections, Roomettes are placed on both sides of

1513-414: A small closet, and no in-room washbasin or toilet, on both sides of both the upper and lower levels of the car. Effectively, they are open sections with walls, a door, and a built-in access ladder for the upper berth (which doubles as a nightstand for the lower berth passenger). Superliner Deluxe Bedrooms are essentially the same as historic Compartments and Double Bedrooms, with the toilet cubicle doubling as

1602-522: A train factory in Minsk , or in Uzbekistan , which has established a 600 km Afrosiyob high-speed rail service between all of its major cities. In the larger Soviet Union successor states like Kazakhstan , Russia , and Ukraine , on the other hand, night trains are to this day a prime method of railway travel, as a shift towards faster daytime trains with seating rather than sleeping arrangements

1691-528: 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

1780-662: A year during the end of World War II the United States government banned sleeping cars for runs of less than 450 miles (720 km) in order to make sleepers available for transporting troops returning to the US from Europe , many being deployed in the Pacific Theater . The development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and the expansion of jet airline travel in the same decade negatively affected train travel. One unanticipated consequence of

1869-460: 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). 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

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1958-699: Is a low-cost night train between Madrid and Barcelona served by berth carriages, with compartments for up to 6 people. While most of Turkey's overnight trains operate within Anatolia , in Asia , TCDD Taşımacılık operates one train from Istanbul to Sofia and Bucharest . The train runs through Turkey as a single train and later splits in Bulgaria. Formerly, overnight trains departed Istanbul to several European destinations such as Thessaloniki , Belgrade , Budapest , Warsaw and Kyiv but were all discontinued in

2047-468: Is also available in Slovakia. Trains are jointly operated by České dráhy and Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko . 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

2136-721: Is hampered by insufficient investments in the railway infrastructure restricting the speed, lack of train sets, and most importantly, the distances involved. While certain numbers of high-speed trains have been acquired by the national railways of these countries (such as Talgo 250 in Kazakhstan, Siemens Sapsan in Russia, or Hyundai Rotem HRCS in Ukraine), all of them continue to operate a large number of sleeper trains both on domestic and international routes. The need to compete against aviation with its soaring passenger numbers forces

2225-517: Is operated by Optima Tours. 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

2314-469: 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 . The automobiles were carried in open railcars. Other services used to be offered to the Auto Train service:

2403-912: The 20th Century Limited on the New York Central Railroad , the Broadway Limited on the Pennsylvania Railroad , the Panama Limited on the Illinois Central Railroad , and the Super Chief on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway . Pullman cars were normally a dark "Pullman green", although some were painted in the host railroad's colors. The cars carried individual names, but usually did not carry visible numbers. In

2492-466: The Chicago Defender , gained a national circulation in this way. Porters also used to re-sell phonograph records bought in the great metropolitan centres, greatly adding to the distribution of jazz and blues and the popularity of the artists. From the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries, the most common and more economical type of sleeping car accommodation on North American trains was

2581-659: The Simplon-Orient Express , Nord Express , Train Bleu , Golden Arrow , and the Transsiberien (on the Trans-Siberian railway ). Today it once again specializes in sleeping cars, along with onboard railroad catering. In modern Europe, a number of sleeping car services continue to operate, though they face strong competition from high-speed day trains and budget airlines, sometimes leading to

2670-468: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (established, 1925), became an important source of strength for the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement in the early 20th century, notably under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph . Because they moved about the country, Pullman porters also became an important means of communication for news and cultural information of all kinds. The African-American newspaper ,

2759-532: The Grand Trunk in 1858, then the Great Western . The Great Western's sleeping cars were manufactured in-house, with the first three built in 1858, and the railway operating six by 1863. The man who ultimately made the sleeping car business profitable in the United States was George Pullman , who began by building a luxurious sleeping car (named Pioneer ) in 1865. The Pullman Company , founded as

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2848-686: The Japanese National Railways and its successor JR Group between 1985 and 1999. The first such service operated between Shiodome Freight Terminal in Tokyo and Higashi-Kokura Freight Terminal in northern Kyushu . At various times during the 1990s, similar services were operated between Nagoya and Kyushu, between Tokyo and Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel , and within Hokkaido. The freight terminal at Ebisu Station

2937-622: The United States with a car named "Chambersburg", between Chambersburg and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . A couple of years later a second car, the "Carlisle", was introduced into service. In 1857, the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts – one of the United States' first makers of railway passenger coach equipment – produced America's first specifically designed sleeping car. Canadian railways soon followed with their own sleeping cars: first

3026-667: The "hydroelectric dams, isolated homes and perhaps even some wildlife." The Polar Bear Express service was expanded on June 5, 2007, after increased funding from the Government of Ontario to ONR was announced in March 2007. It resulted in the discontinuation of the Little Bear mixed freight-passenger service which had operated three days per week, year-round, resulting in dedicated separate freight and passenger rail service to Moosonee. In summer 2008, track conditions resulted

3115-415: The "open section". Open-section accommodations consist of pairs of seats, one seat facing forward and the other backward, situated on either side of a center aisle. The seat pairs can be converted into the combination of an upper and a lower " berth ", each berth consisting of a bed screened from the aisle by a curtain. A famous example of open sections can be seen in the movie Some Like It Hot (1959). In

3204-576: The 1830s; they could be configured for coach seating during the day. Possibly the earliest example of a sleeping car (or bed carriage , as it was then called) was on the London & Birmingham and Grand Junction Railways between London and Lancashire , England. The bed carriage was first made available to first-class passengers in 1838. In the spring of 1839, the Cumberland Valley Railroad pioneered sleeping car service in

3293-764: The 1920s, the Pullman Company went through a series of restructuring steps, which in the end resulted in a parent company, Pullman Incorporated, controlling the Pullman Company (which owned and operated sleeping cars) and the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. Due to an antitrust verdict in 1947, a consortium of railroads bought the Pullman Company from Pullman Incorporated, and subsequently railroads owned and operated Pullman-made sleeping cars themselves. Pullman-Standard continued manufacturing sleeping cars and other passenger and freight railroad cars until 1980. For nearly

3382-424: The 1960s, but closed the service a few years after due to low popularity. In Chile , EFE ( Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado ) operated a service called "Autotren" between Santiago and Temuco . It has, alongside most rail services in the country, been discontinued. Amtrak operates their dedicated Auto Train between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C. ) and Sanford, Florida (near Orlando ),

3471-653: The 1990s and 2000s. A privately operated overnight train, the Optima Express , runs between Edirne and Villach in Austria with an average trip time of 35 hours. In the United Kingdom, a network of trains with sleeping cars operates daily between London and Scotland ( Caledonian Sleeper ), and between London and the West Country as far as Cornwall ( Night Riviera ). These services offer

3560-560: 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

3649-513: 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 except for

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3738-574: The Prague - Košice line. Another of the more substantial examples of current European sleeping-car service is the Train Bleu , an all-sleeping-car train. It leaves Paris from the Gare d'Austerlitz station in mid-evening and arrives in Nice at about 8 in the morning, providing both first-class rooms and couchette accommodation. The train's principal popularity is with older travelers; it has not won

3827-490: The Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867, owned and operated most sleeping cars in the United States until the mid-20th century, attaching them to passenger trains run by the various railroads; there were also some sleeping cars that were operated by Pullman but owned by the railroad running a given train. During the peak years of American passenger railroading, several all-Pullman trains existed, including

3916-570: The Spanish rail network operator Renfe . It was operated by Renfe and CP where it operated International Sud-Express and Lusitanea services between Spain and Portugal, and by its subsidiary Elipsos (a joint venture between Renfe and French SNCF with a 50% share each) when operating in France , Switzerland and Italy . Trenhotel services were discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic , this

4005-593: The WLABmee 70-91 made by Astra Arad, which is the same type used by Astra Rail (although the liveries differ), starting from 2014, 2 of the WLABmee 71-70 cars were refurbished, but no other examples have received the same treatment. Other examples that have been withdrawn since were second-hand examples of the TEN MU and T2S types. In Spain, Trenhotel was a long-distance, overnight train service which used Talgo tilting trains technology and sleeping cars developed by

4094-428: The bi-level Superliner sleeping cars, built from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, and the single-level Viewliner sleeping cars, built in the mid-1990s. Superliners are used on most long-distance routes from Chicago westward, while Viewliners are used on most routes east of Chicago due to tunnel clearance issues in and around New York City and Baltimore . In the most common Superliner sleeping car configuration,

4183-540: 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

4272-476: The cancellation or consolidation of services. In some cases, trains are split and recombined in the dead of night, making it possible to offer several connections with a relatively small number of trains. Generally, the trains consist of sleeping cars with private compartments, couchette cars, and sometimes cars with normal seating. In Eastern Europe, night trains are still widely used. In Western Europe, they have been in decline for decades. However, in December 2020

4361-539: The capital of the country with the Atlantic coast in a distance of 400 km. Sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often wagon-lit ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American and English railways in

4450-822: The car, accommodates two adults and up to three small children, without private toilet or shower facilities. When the Viewliner sleeping cars were built, the accommodations were patterned after the Superliner accommodations, except that the Economy Bedrooms (or "Viewliner Roomettes") include Roomette-style washbasins and toilets, as well as windows for the upper berths. In Europe , the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (French for "International Sleeping Car Company") first focused on sleeping cars, but later operated whole trains, including

4539-638: The car, with a corridor down the center. Duplex Roomettes, a Pullman-produced precursor to the Slumbercoach, are staggered vertically, with every second accommodation raised a few feet above the car's floor level, in order to make slightly more efficient use of the space. Single-passenger Slumbercoach accommodations are a particularly spartan form of roomette; Slumbercoaches also included a few two-passenger units. Compartments and Double Bedrooms are private rooms for two passengers, with upper and lower berths, washbasins, and private toilets, placed on one side of

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4628-443: The car, with the corridor running down the other side (thus allowing the accommodation to be slightly over two thirds the width of the car). Frequently, these accommodations have movable partitions allowing adjacent accommodations to be combined into a suite. The drawing room was a relatively rare and expensive option for travelers. It could comfortably accommodate three people, again with a washbasin and private toilet on one side of

4717-455: The car. Even rarer are larger rooms accommodating four or more. Generally the needs of large parties were better served with multiple rooms, with or without the ability to combine them into a suite. Amtrak's Superliner Economy Bedrooms (now called Superliner Roomettes, although they are structurally closer to open sections) accommodate two passengers in facing seats that fold out into a lower berth, with an upper berth that folds down from above,

4806-442: 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,

4895-495: The co-owner of Le Monde newspaper. However, the project later collapsed due in part to a lack of funding. In 2021 Europe saw a increase in the provision of sleeper trains which is thought to be the result of increasing awareness of the environmental effects of long-distance travel. In 2022 the design and engineering faculties of three European universities – Aalto , KTH and TalTech – discussed plans to reshape sleeping cars for flow production. The ADLNE project aims to create

4984-588: The country, covering distances of 400 to 750 km, usually to end at certain international destinations or in large cities at opposite ends of the country. The overwhelming majority of night trains with sleeping coaches are owned and operated by CFR Călători (Romanian Railways). Recently, private operators such as Astra Rail Carpatica , the newly founded private operator of Astra Vagoane Arad , has started offering sleeping train services, using own-made sleeping cars and Servtrans locomotives. CFR today prefers operating more couchettes than sleeping cars in its trains,

5073-467: The day and "privacyless" double- or triple-level bunk beds at night. In 2021 the French start-up company, Midnight Trains , announced plans to set up a network of sleeper trains, centered in Paris . Planned destinations include Edinburgh , Copenhagen , Berlin , Venice , Rome , Barcelona , Madrid , and Porto , with some intermediate stops. The plans were backed by telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel ,

5162-520: The destination. Some of the Nightjet train units have a maximum speed of 230 km/h. In the Soviet Union overnight train travel formed the most common and accessible mode of long-distance travel, distances between the capital of Moscow and many outlying cities being ideal for overnight trips that depart in late evening and arrive at their destinations in the morning. Sleeping cars with berths are

5251-548: 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. There

5340-695: The fastest sleeper trains in the world. A new variant of CRH2E consists of double level bunk capsules in lieu of sleeping berths. These trains have been dubbed "moving hotels". A major portion of passenger cars in India are sleeper/couchette cars. With railways as one of the primary mode of passenger transport, sleeper cars vary from economical to First Class AC (air conditioned). Most Indian trains come in combinations of first class A/C and non-A/C private sleeper cars with doors, and A/C 3-tier or 2-tier couchette arrangements. Japan used to have many sleeper trains, but most of these routes have been removed because of

5429-469: The lower bed will be occupied by three passengers. Chinese trains also offer "soft" or deluxe sleeping cars with four or two beds per room. China is the only country to operate high-speed sleeper trains. Sleeper services are operated using high-speed CRH1E , CRH2E and CRH5E trains outfitted with sleeping berths ( couchette ). Services run between Beijing - Shanghai and Beijing - Guangzhou at speeds of up to 250 km/h (160 mph), one of

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5518-491: The main cities in Northern Italy and the South , including Sicily using train ferry. Sleeping trains in Poland are run by PKP Intercity . Sleeper cars are used on long-distance domestic trains such as the Przemyślanin as well as international trains. Polish night trains also contain standard first and second class seated cars as well as couchette cars . The sleeper cars offer various types of accommodations, including 4-bed, 3-bed, 2-bed and single accommodations, as well as

5607-441: The mid-to-late 20th century, an increasing variety of private rooms was offered. Most of these rooms provided significantly more space than open-section accommodations could offer. Open-sections were increasingly phased out in the 1950s, in favor of roomettes. Some of them, such as the rooms of the " Slumbercoach " cars manufactured by the Budd Company and first put into service in 1956, were triumphs of miniaturization. These allowed

5696-423: The motorail trains from and to Munich, which are bi-seasonal (summer & winter). 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. After the withdrawal of motorail services by state-owned Trenitalia the private railway company Arenaways started overnight motorail trains running from Torino in

5785-401: The night trains of the Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB) (called ÖBB nightjet ) include car-carrier wagons. 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

5874-401: 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. 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. In 2019, there are seasonal international motorail trains, operating during

5963-422: 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 ) offers daily or almost daily motorail connections (under

6052-616: The occupants of the road vehicles being carried on the train usually stay with their vehicle throughout the rail journey. 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 . In Austria , roughly half of

6141-485: The only reasonable solution for railway trips lasting several days (e.g., trains running along the Trans-Siberian Railway , or direct trains from Moscow or Saint Petersburg to the capitals of the Central Asian Soviet Republics). Since then, the railroads in the smaller ex-Soviet nations have largely transitioned to daytime intercity trains, such as in Belarus , where the process is based on government-funded purchases of rolling stock supplied by Stadler , which operates

6230-737: The privatization of JR, and competition with both long-distance car ferries and combination air/rental car travel products. 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

6319-501: The railcar from modules that are themselves composed of interchangeable segments, compartments and fittings, allowing bespoke designs at low cost. ÖBB 's modern Nightjet services operate in Germany , Austria , Italy , Switzerland , France , Netherlands and Belgium , and Nightjet's partners will also take passengers to Slovakia , Croatia , Slovenia , Poland , Hungary and the Czech Republic . The services usually leave at around 20:00 hours and arrive at around 09:00 hours at

6408-620: The railroads to maintain modest ticket prices, starting at below 10 Euros for third-class tickets in Ukraine, if higher in the richer ex-Soviet nations. Rolling stock age and quality also varies by country. In countries like Kazakhstan and Russia, locally-produced cars are purchased regularly to update the fleet, with newly introduced comforts such as showers, dry toilets, or conditioning units in passenger compartments becoming an increasingly common sight; Russian Railroads have also introduced double-deck sleeper cars; yet comfort levels still suffer from

6497-402: The rise of Pullman cars in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries was their effect on civil rights and African-American culture. Each Pullman car was staffed by a uniformed porter . The majority of Pullman porters were African Americans. While still a menial job in many respects, Pullman offered better pay and security than most jobs open to African Americans at the time, in addition to

6586-429: The same degree of popularity with younger travelers. Recently, the upper-class coaches (wagons lits) have been sold to foreign railroad companies, so that only couchette cars (1st and 2nd class) and seating coaches remain. The Train Bleu is part of the French night service network called Intercités de Nuit . In Italy, Ferrovie dello Stato operates an extensive network of trains with sleeping cars, especially between

6675-514: 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. In France, the SNCF 's Auto/train service comprised several overnight automobile-carrying trains throughout France. In the past, all of

6764-495: The state railways of Germany , Austria , France and Switzerland announced a 500 million euro investment in a network of cross-border night trains linking 13 major European cities, in the largest extension of Europe's night network in many years. An example of a more basic type of sleeping car is the European couchette car , which is divided into compartments for four or six people, with bench-configuration seating during

6853-540: 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. Journey Beyond provides a Motorail service on its long-distance Indian Pacific between Adelaide and Perth, and The Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin. It formerly offered Motorail on The Overland services. Traveltrain in Queensland formerly offered

6942-797: 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

7031-487: The summer months only. German operator train4you operates motorail trains from Düsseldorf and Hamburg to Verona, while state-owned Austrian railway ÖBB connects Livorno with the Austrian capital of Vienna. The services are reduced in comparison to 2017 and 2018 which saw motorail trains operating from Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Vienna to Verona and Livorno. There were motorail services, called AutoSlaapTrein , which ran in

7120-825: 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. 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. Four new motorail operators stepped in during 2015 and 2016, taking over

7209-440: The train is misleading — polar bears are rarely seen anywhere near Moosonee, although there are some extremely rare exceptions. The Polar Bear Express today mostly services the residents of Moosonee and Moose Factory when they travel south from their communities that lack road connections to the rest of Ontario. During the winter, many passengers are from communities further north who travel to Moosonee by winter road before taking

7298-412: The train running very late much of the time (2.5 hours by railway announcement). By late 2008, running times had improved somewhat and timings of five and a half to six hours for the 186 miles (299 kilometres) - all distances are shown in miles along the tracks - trip were becoming typical. Service deteriorated significantly in 2009 mainly due to bad track conditions and mechanical failures — on one occasion

7387-555: The train, due to the high cost of vehicle transport. The motorail service is important to those living in the northern communities inaccessible by regular roads. Prior to 2012 the summer train included special programs for children and an entertainment car. Motorail 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

7476-572: The train, scheduled to arrive in Cochrane at 9:42 in the evening did not arrive until 4:00 in the morning. Before the 2007 service expansion, the Polar Bear Express operated six days per week during the summer months. It leaves Cochrane in the morning, stays in Moosonee for a few hours, and returns to Cochrane in the evening. It was primarily used by tourists , although it was used by an increasing number of local residents. The name of

7565-617: 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. 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 800 km, and on the Buenos Aires-Mar Del Plata line, connecting

7654-727: The type of ticket bought. A night train with sleeping carriages included operates on the route between the two largest Croatian towns, Zagreb and Split , and Croatian sleeping coaches are included on the Zagreb- Stuttgart -Zagreb and Zagreb- Zürich -Zagreb EuroNight lines. Sleeping car services in the Czech Republic are operated by České dráhy and RegioJet . ČD operates them on the Prague - Leipzig - Zürich line, Prague - Linz - Zürich line, Prague - Humenné line and others. RegioJet provides them on various trains on

7743-400: The upper level is divided into two halves, one half containing "Bedrooms" (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; and the other half containing " Roomettes " (formerly "Economy Bedrooms" or "Standard Bedrooms") for one or two travelers; plus a beverage area and a toilet. The lower level contains more Roomettes;

7832-472: Was due to some routes being covered by daytime high-speed trains, the age of rolling stock and the diminishing popularity of some of the services. Renfe announced that trains to and from the Spanish region of Galicia would eventually be reintroduced. This marked the end of sleeper trains in Portugal and it left Celta as the last international train service between Portugal and Spain. The Estrella (Star)

7921-550: 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

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