when i booked the train ticket from hamburg to copenhagen, i assumed the route over the water would you know, be a bridge.
via bahn.de
so when i thought i heard the conductor mention a Fähre in german i pulled off my headphones and waited for the english announcement. wait, we will be boarding a ferry and we have to get off the train? no, clearly he must have been talking about certain connecting passengers. not us, i mean, this is a train trip! (though, as it turns out, this would explain why we were on a diesel-powered train as opposed to the more common overhead-electric-wire-powered ones.)
but yesssss, after we stopped at Puttgarden, the train slowly inched forward and drove onto a f*cking boat. a motherf*cking boat.
The train (an ICE TD) at Hamburg Hbf
And on the ferry
it turns out it’s quite an operation. not just a rinky-dink dinghy, but a full-on ship that transports trucks and cars as well, with a restaurant, cafeteria (perfect way to use your leftover currency), and shopping. heck, the bathrooms even had dyson airblades (not that i particularly like them, but still).
the best part, though (besides the WTF BONUS BOAT RIDE!!!!1111!!!1), was the scenery: a forty-five minute baltic sea sunset cruise! from what i gathered by the reaction of the passengers, 3/4 were completely blasé and 1/4 were just as surprised as i was. it was pretty chilly out on deck, even at the end of august, so be sure to bundle up or at least buy a hot chocolate downstairs if you’re going to hang out outside.
Ferry going in the opposite direction
on the way back, we were on a danish IC3, same deal, but this time i played cool and didn’t O_O. (some of the pictures above were taken on the return.) oh, a hint about the IC3 trains: there are indeed power plugs: they are above your head by the fluorescent lights. just be sure to tuck the cord out of the way, especially if you’re using an adapter, because one false elbow placement and someone is liable to get a bonk on the head.
At København H
On the ferry
read more about this transport corridor, the vogelfluglinie.
I do believe that there used to be boat trains from Dover to Calais up to the 2nd world war.
hm! according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_ferry#Examples there was a train ferry with a 6h channel crossing from dover to dunkuerque through 1980. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Ferry