Boat Trains - The English Channel and Ocean Liner Specials : History, Development and Operation

Often forgotten in the history of ocean travel is the means of getting to the port. Martyn Pring brings the story of the boat train and how it connects ship to shore to life in this insightful and detailed history." Campbell McCutcheon.

In many ways this title featuring the evolution of cross-channel boat trains and the many dedicated services responsible for moving international passengers to and from transatlantic steamers, is an extension of luxury railway travel. But that’s not the full story as it encapsulates more than 125 years of independent and organized tourism development. At the end of the nineteenth century, faster and more stable twin-screw vessels replaced cross-channel paddlers resulting in a significant expansion in the numbers of day excursionists and short-stay visitors heading to Belgium, France and the Channel Islands. Continental Europe, as it had done since the end of the Napoleonic Wars beckoned, introducing ideas of modern-day mass tourism.Numerous liners bestriding the globe were British domiciled. Major ports became hives of commercial activity involving moving freight and mail, as well as transporting all manner of travelers. Not only was there intense competition for passenger traffic between the Old and New World and Britain’s imperial interests, greater numbers of well-heeled tourists headed off to warmer winter climes, and also experimented with the novel idea of using ocean steamers as hotels to visit an array of diverse destinations. Cruise tourism and the itinerary had arrived as ‘Ocean Special’ boat trains became essential components of railway and port procedures.While some railway operations were dedicated to emigrant traffic, continental and ocean liner boat trains were also synonymous with the most glamorous travel services ever choreographed by shipping lines and railway companies working closely in tandem. This well illustrated book explores the many functions of boat train travel.