Hmm, be careful here. As I understand it Finnjet is now largely deployed on
the duty-free "booze cruises" out of Finland for Tallinn, etc (and I think
at times St Petersburg?). For this she would not be used as a "train ferry".
For those of you not aware, at the time of her introduction the Finnjet was
something of a revolution - fitted with turbine engines so that she could
travel at 28+ knots, meaning that the link between Helsinki and Travemunde
could be mad in the magical marketing time of less than 24 hrs. This speed
was not really surpassed by ferry vessels until the introduction of the
generation of lightweight catamaran and associated designs (Yes I'm aware of
the speeds some turbine steamers attained). Unusually for a ro-ro vessel
(carrying cars as well as rail vehicles) she also had bows strengthened to
cope with the ice in the Baltic in Winter, when the crossing speed was
reduced to enable a transit in 30 to 36 hours.
Ian Raymond
Freelance Data Analyst
MSc student University of Ulster
"Let us redefine progress to mean that just because we can do a thing,
it does not necessarily mean we shall do it."
> > Dear Mr Boodoo,
> >
> > The most recent introduction of a train ferry service is that
> > between the Chinese mainland and the island of Hainan. We did
> > a study about three years ago about the landing stage and
> > vertical transition curves for the railway tracks. The
> > service was inaugurated in 2004. There are train ferries
> > across the Straits of Messina (Italy), between Russia and
> > Sachalin, Finnjet between Germany and Finland,
>
>I'm curious: what's the point of doing Germany-Finland? There's a gauge
>difference.
>
>Peter Excell
>Bradford Univ.
>
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