This is a list of train ferries that are designed to carry railway vehicles. These include purpose-built train ferries that can be quickly loaded and unloaded by roll-on/roll-off, and car floats or rail barges which are barges that carry trains.
Current train ferries Azerbaijan Baku – Türkmenbaşy () (Паромная переправа Баку — Туркменбаши), connecting Azerbaijan with Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea since 1963. In May 2008 they decided to buy a longer ferry.
Baku, Azerbaijan to Aktau, Kazakhstan.
Bolivia Train ferry on Lake Titicaca from Peru – and gauges at each end.
Bulgaria The Varna-Odesa (Ukraine) train ferry line served by 4 boats ( each, carrying 108 loaded railroad cars) opened in 1978, bypasses a break of gauge. Later, the service was extended to include lines to Poti and Batumi, Georgia. Boats can carry trucks and passengers as well.
Canada Delta, British Columbia – Nanaimo, British Columbia (E&N Railway) SeaspanSeaspan FerriesGreg George Matane, Quebec – Baie-Comeau, Quebec (COGEMA)Trains February 2009 p9
China
Guangdong–Hainan Railway: Part of this railway is the Yuehai (粤海, i.e. Guangdong-Hainan) Ferry which crosses the Qiongzhou Strait, between Zhanjiang, Guangdong and Haikou, Hainan. The line has operated since January 2003, carrying both freight and passenger trains, enabling direct train service between the mainland and the cities of Haikou and Sanya on Hainan Island."Train-ferry project making solid progress" . By Xie Chuanjiao (China Daily). Updated: 2006-06-06 As of the late 2010, two ferry boats were in operation; the third boat, Yuehai No. 3, was launched in Tianjin in September 2010, and was going to be delivered to the ferry company in December 2010.Train Ferry across Qiongzhou Strait Launched at Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd 2010-10-12 Bohai Train Ferry: Yantai in Shandong Province to Dalian in Liaoning Province. This short-cut line, operated by Sinorail, has been running since November 2006. As of 2020, it only carries freight trains, but passengers can also be on board the ship.
Germany Rostock – Trelleborg, Sweden (1994–2021). Since 2021 freight only (takes passenger cars and foot passengers also; night trains go over Great Belt bridge instead).
Georgia Russia to Georgia, bypasses Abkhazia.
Iran A new train ferry link-span terminal is under construction at Amirabad Special Economic Zone, Mazandaran Province, Iran.
Italy
Calabria-Sicily and vice versa: between the ports of Villa San Giovanni in the Region of Calabria and Messina in the Region of Sicily — passenger and freight service.
Both Sicily and Sardinia services are operated by Bluvia that is a subsidiary company of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. At present the link between Mainland and Sicily has a regular and frequent activity, while the link between Mainland and Sardinia is less frequent and operated basically day by day on the basis of the actual traffic demand.
Kenya A new and a refurbished train ferry between Kisumu, Kenya and Port Bell, Uganda across Lake Victoria.A new and a refurbished train ferry
Mexico
CG Railway, connecting the Port of Mobile, Alabama, USA and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. It is served by the BNSF, Canadian National, CSX, Kansas City Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern.
New Zealand The Interislander runs a train ferry (called rail ferries locally), Aratere, across Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton, carrying both road and rail cargo on separate decks. Kaitaki and Kaiārahi also serve this route, but carry road vehicles only.
Peru Link with Bolivia across Lake Titicaca. The car float Manco Capac has dual gauge tracks for both Peruvian and Bolivian . There are small stretches of dual gauge trackage at Puno in Peru and Guaqui in Bolivia. Car loading and unloading are done at docks. The British-built steamship Ollanta is no longer maintained, but PeruRail, in charge of the vessel, is trying to develop a tourist project soon.Southern Peru Railroads
Russia Vanino - Kholmsk, connecting Sakhalin Island with the mainland. (Since 1973). The ferry line is operated by the Sakhalin Shipping Company. Since Sakhalin railways use the Japanese gauge of , the railcars coming from the Russian mainland needed their bogies changed; this was done in Kholmsk.Сахалинская узкоколейная железная дорога (The narrow-gauge railways of Sakhalin) This break of gauge was removed once the Sakhalin railways had been converted to the Russian 1520 mm gauge in the late 2010s. Baltiysk to Ust-Luga Port Kavkaz to Port Krym, across the Kerch StraitPort Krym is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.
Sweden Trelleborg – Rostock, Germany (1994-), freight only Ystad - Świnoujście, Poland (2025-), freight only
Tanzania
Turkey Bosphorus: Train ferries used to connect the European railway network with main connections from Thessaloniki, Greece, and Bucharest, Romania terminating at the Sirkeci Terminal to the Asian network terminating at the Haydarpaşa Terminal. Closure of lines within Istanbul in both sides due to Marmaray project caused these ferry services to become useless since the beginning of 2012. Ferry service between Tekirdağ and Derince replaced this ferry service which started at the end of 2013.Uysal, Onur. "Wagons On Board: Tekirdag Derince Ferry Departed" , Rail Turkey, 11 November 2013 The current Marmaray Tunnel project, which was completed in 2013, partially replaced the ferry connection with an underwater railway tunnel running between the two sides. Black Sea: Chornomorsk, Ukraine to Derince, Turkey, bypasses a break of gauge Black Sea: Samsun, Turkey to Kavkaz, Russia: Launched in December 2010
Lake Van – Tatvan — Van. The Istanbul — Tehran "Trans-Asya-Ekspresi" operates and the Damascus–Tehran passenger train operated from each terminus to the ferry ports. Only the luggage van takes the ferry due to capacity restrictions, the passengers have to change at both ends. The Lake Van ferry is part of the planned Trans-Asian Railway, Istanbul — Singapore. A scheduled freight train runs from Istanbul to Kazakhstan. The train ferry was established to avoid an expensive railroad line along the mountainous southern shore and may be replaced when traffic increases sufficiently; there are reports of financing discussions between the governments of Turkey and Iran. The ferry route is long while a rail alternative on the north side would be long in mountainous terrain. There are four ferries each of 16 coach capacity capable of making three trips per day. Other sources describe the ferries' capacity as 450 tons (9 to 14 railcars). Tekirdağ-Derince Ferry: The ferry service had started at the end of 2013 connecting Europe to Asia by rail. The service is given by TCDD where a maritime company is the subcontractor. The ferry is MF Erdeniz, which used to carry wagons between Eregli and Zonguldak ports. She is now carrying wagons between Tekirdağ Port and Derince Port, İzmit. Ferry has 5 lines which are in total, long. It can travel between Tekirdağ and Derince in 8 hours. Tekirdağ-Bandırma Ferry: TCDD is constructing another ferry ramp at Bandırma Port and is planning to give ferry service between Tekirdağ and Bandırma ports. This service will connect Agean Region of Turkey to Europe by rail.
Turkmenistan
Uganda A train ferry on Lake Victoria links the gauge network of the Uganda Railway at Port Bell with the gauge network of Tanzania at Mwanza. In June 2008, the Ugandan budget allocated $US8.5m for an additional train ferry for Lake Victoria to replace one that sank after a collision.RailwaysAfrica Archived copy at WebCite (November 21, 2005).
Ukraine
United States
New York New Jersey Rail in New York City moves freight cars between Jersey City and Brooklyn. This car float operation provides a southern freight rail gateway to Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island by avoiding the Selkirk Hurdle. The railroad carries a wide range of goods, including construction materials, food, and consumer products. The Alaska Railroad is connected to the rest of the North American rail system only via train ferries. The Alaska Railroad runs its own ferries from Whittier, Alaska to Seattle. Central Gulf Railroad, connecting the Port of Mobile, Alabama and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. It is served by the BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, CSX Transportation, CPKC Railway, and the Norfolk Southern Railway.
Former train ferries Argentina Nine train ferries were used between 1907 and 1990 to cross the Paraná river and join the Buenos Aires province (the main state in Argentina) and the Entre Rios province (the entrance to the Mesopotamian region), until new bridges were built over the rivers they crossed. They were Lucía Carbó (1907), María Parera (1908), Mercedes Lacroze (1909) (three ferries that operated between the ports of Zárate and Ibicuy (Entre Rios), crossing the Paraná River at the northwest of the Buenos Aires province). Then were added Roque Saenz Peña (1911) and Ezequiel Ramos Mejía (1913), paddle train ferries, at Posadas (crossing the Paraná River in the southwest of the Misiones province, at the north of the country, in the frontier with Paraguay).
Three other train ferries were added later: Dolores de Urquiza (1926), Delfina Mitre (1928) and Carmen Avellaneda (1929) to cover the service in the Zárate-Ibicuy crossing. María Parera had a collision with Lucía Carbó at km. 145 of the Paraná River, and it sank in less than 15 minutes on June 30, 1926. Two of the most modern still serve as floating piers in the Zárate region, and one of the first group was sunk during a storm at the Buenos Aires port in the 1980s. The two northern paddle ferries still remain at Posadas, and one of them holds a model railway museum inside. All the eight old ferries were built by the A & J Inglis, in Pointhouse, Glasgow, Scotland, for the Entre Rios Railways Co. in Argentina. The ninth ferry, Tabare, was built in Argentina by Astarsa in 1966 at Astillero Río Santiago Río Santiago Shipyard near to La Plata city. It was the largest train ferry that operated in Argentina, with a deck more than 100 meters long. Tabaré is still floating, but not operating, at the old south docks of Buenos Aires port, near the Puerto Madero zone.
Australia Grafton, New South Wales, over Clarence River pending construction of bridge, 1920s to 1932."Crossing the Clarence" Roundhouse July 1982 pages 4-23
Bangladesh Narayanganj–Bahadurabad Ghat line from Balashi Ghat to Bahadurabad Ghat – gauge across the Brahmaputra River in Bangladesh – passenger services superseded by Jamuna Bridge, 2003; and dual gauge. Limited freight transportation continued until 2010.
Belgium Former link from Zeebrugge to Harwich, England – ceased in 1987.
Canada Car floats
Prince Rupert, British Columbia – Whittier, Alaska (Aquatrain) Service ended in April 2021. lakes of British Columbia Okanagan, Arrow, Kootenay lakes (Canadian National and Canadian Pacific) Port Maitland, Ontario – Ashtabula, Ohio (TH&B Navigation Company) Port Burwell, Ontario – Ashtabula, Ohio (CN) Cobourg, Ontario – Rochester, New York (Ontario Car Ferry Company) ran from 1905 to 1950 Sarnia, Ontario – Port Huron, Michigan – rail-barge – (CN, until the opening of the Paul Tellier Tunnel) Windsor, Ontario – Detroit, Michigan (Grand Trunk, CN, CPR, Michigan Central, Wabash, until the 1980s) BC Rail. Until 1952, railcars were barged from North Vancouver to Squamish until the completion of the railway between North Vancouver and Squamish. A large number of isolated BC pulp mills had chemicals and freight moved by railbarge. At one time a car float came to Ogden Point. from the Victoria HarbourGreg George
Train ferries Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick – Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island (Canadian Government Railways, CN, CN Marine, Marine Atlantic), using and . Service ended when rail service on Prince Edward Island was discontinued in 1989.