A mixed train or mixed consist is a

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

that contains both passenger and

freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...

cars or wagons. Although common in the early days of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s, by the 20th century they were largely confined to

branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

s with little traffic. Typically, service was slower, because mixed trains usually involved the shunting (switching) of

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...

at stops along the way. However, some earlier passenger expresses, which also hauled time-sensitive freight in

covered goods wagon A covered goods wagon or van is a railway goods wagon which is designed for the transportation of moisture-susceptible goods and therefore fully enclosed by sides and a fixed roof. They are often referred to simply as covered wagons, and this is ...

s (

boxcar A boxcar is the North American ( AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most ...

s), would now be termed mixed trains. Generally, toward the end of the mixed train era, shunting at intermediate stops had significantly diminished. Most railway passenger and freight services are now administered separately.

Exclusions

Not intended by this article is the definition of mixed train to describe: * mixed freight. * wagonload service (single wagons for various customers, assembled into trains), as opposed to trainload service (point to point, complete train for one customer). * a passenger train that runs sections as an express, but makes frequent stops elsewhere. * a train consisting of carriages of different classes (historical use). SAR Class NG G11 NG55 (2-6-0+0-6-2)

Passenger trains that can carry travellers' cars on freight wagons at the rear of the train are excluded. Called

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 ...

, such services operate in Austria, Turkey, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Serbia, Australia, Canada, Chile, and the US.

Car shuttle train A car shuttle train, or (sometimes) car-carrying train, is a shuttle train used to transport accompanied cars ( automobiles), and usually also other types of road vehicles, for a relatively short distance. Car shuttle trains usually operate on ...

s, on which passengers travel within their vehicles, are also omitted.

Africa and Asia

In parts of Asia and Africa, mixed trains still operate along corridors with reduced traffic. Routes include Asmara–Ghinda, Bulawayo–Harare, Elazığ–Tatvan, Fianarantsoa–Manakara, Kandy–Badulla, Livingstone–Mulobezi, Phnom Penh–Poipet, and

Zahedan Mixed Passenger Zahedan Mixed Passenger ( ur, , fa, زاهدان مسافری مخلوط) is an international mixed passenger train and freight train operated twice-a-month by Pakistan Railways between Quetta, Pakistan and Zahedan, Iran. A number of state-owned rail operators the island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

; the Manila Railway, as well as the succeeding Manila Railroad and the present Philippine National Railways, operated mixed trains from its inception in 1892 until 1968. During the early days of the ''Ferrocarril de

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Dagupan Dagupan, officially the City of Dagupan ( pag, Siyudad na Dagupan, ilo, Siudad ti Dagupan, fil, Lungsod ng Dagupan), is a 2nd class independent component city in the Ilocos Region, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populati ...

'' line, now known as the North Main Line, third-class passengers normally occupied

s alongside freight on

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

services, while first-class passengers were able to use true railcars hauled by

tank locomotive A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...

s. By 1956, the last mixed trains that continued to serve the South Main Line were the following; Train 506 from

Tagkawayan station Tagkawayan station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Tagkawayan, Quezon, Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), ...

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...

province, and Train 504 to

Naga station Naga station is a railway station located on the South Main Line in Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines. It is a major station on the line, serving as the main terminus for the ''Bicol Commuter'', ''Bicol Express'' train services and the end stat ...

Naga, Camarines Sur Naga, officially the City of Naga (Central Bikol: ''Siyudad nin Naga''; Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Naga''; fil, Lungsod ng Naga) or the Pilgrim City of Naga, is a 1st class independent component city in the Bicol Region of the Philippines ...

. Return services to Manila were numbered 505 and 503, respectively. Hourly dedicated freight services started to replaced mixed trains on the entire network by the 1960s. However, another mixed train service was reintroduced in 1967 through a deal with Legazpi mayor Luis Los Baños. A

refrigerator car A refrigerator car (or "reefer") is a refrigerated boxcar (U.S.), a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simple insulated boxcars and ventilated boxcars (co ...

carrying agricultural produce was hauled alongside passenger trains to the

Bicol Region Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region of ...

. The service was short-lived and it was terminated after the April 1968

Mayon Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...

Volcano eruption. Train services eventually dwindled in ridership until all intercity rail services were suspended in 2013.

Australia

In Australia, mixed trains were called a "car goods", "goods train with car attached", or "mixed goods". In some countries, however, the latter term refers to a freight train carrying various different types of freight rather a single commodity. In most Australian states, a mixed train was technically a goods train with passenger accommodation, meaning it had lower priority over other trains, and could be cancelled without notice if there were no goods to carry. The

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

had a class of train called a "limited through mixed", which limited the amount of goods and ran to a set timetable. It was guaranteed to run even without waiting goods. Forming another type of mixed train, railmotors or

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...

s might haul a one or two goods wagons, or a goods

brake van Brake van and guard's van are terms used mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia and India for a railway vehicle equipped with a hand brake which can be applied by the guard. The equivalent North American term is caboose, but a British brake van ...

carrying some freight.

Austria, Germany and Switzerland

In German-speaking countries, two main types of mixed train (''Gemischter Zug'') existed: the ''GmP'' and the ''PmG''.

GmP

The ''GmP'' was a "goods train with passenger service" (''Güterzug mit Personenbeförderung''); namely a goods train with one or more passenger coaches. These were common on branch lines and were run for the following reasons: *Low numbers of passengers that did not warrant the use of dedicated passenger trains. *Insufficient rolling stock and/or railway staff to operate separate goods and passenger trains. *High levels of traffic, requiring combined services for safe and efficient operation. To reduce smoke exposure, the

passenger coaches A passenger railroad car or passenger car ( United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach ( United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie ( India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry pas ...

were usually located well back from the locomotive. However, when heating was required during cold weather, the coaches connected immediately behind the locomotive, because most goods wagons lacked heating-pipe conduits. Hzl MAN-VT PmG

Into the 1980s, the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remaine ...

ran ''GmP'' trains occasionally, but adding or detaching rolling stock created long wait times at stops, which contributed to their demise. They are no longer found in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

PmG

The other variant in German-speaking countries was the ''PmG'' or "passenger train with goods service" (''Personenzug mit Güterbeförderung''). The

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

continued to operate some of these trains until the early 1990s. These comprised one or more goods wagons running behind the passenger coaches. Towards the end, no shunting took place at the intermediate stations. Some private railways once ran ''PmG'' trains. Passenger trains transporting skiers, in places like

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss A ...

, still haul an open wagon for ski equipment.

New Zealand

Mixed trains were once prolific in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Although

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alo ...

s operated on the main lines, mixed trains served rural branch lines where dedicated passenger services would be uneconomical. On the more significant provincial routes, substituting a mixed train during the off-season was common in the late 19th century (the

Rotorua Express The ''Rotorua Express'' was a passenger express train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government depart ...

), or operating the provincial express twice or thrice weekly while mixed services ran daily (the

Taneatua Express The ''Taneatua Express'' was an express passenger train operated by the New Zealand Railways Department that ran between Auckland and Taneatua in the Bay of Plenty, serving centres such as Tauranga and Te Puke. It commenced in 1929 and operated ...

). The shortcomings of mixed trains for passenger travel led the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

to investigate railcar technology in the early 20th century. Overseas designs could not be easily adapted to New Zealand owing to its rugged conditions,

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

track, and small loading gauge. Early railcars trials, such as the RM class Model T Ford railbuses, proved unsatisfactory. When successfully introduced from the 1930s, railcars primarily replaced unprofitable provincial carriage trains, and some mixed services in regions such as the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

and

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

. Mixed trains dominated the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

's more extensive branch-line network, but as private car ownership increased in the 1930s, passenger traffic decreased, closing many rural train routes. However, some mixed services lasted into the 1960s in isolated regions with poor roads. In the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, the last mixed trains operated into the 1970s, where services on the

North Auckland Line The North Auckland Line (designation NAL) is a major section of New Zealand's national rail network, and is made up of the following parts: the portion of track that runs northward from Westfield Junction to Newmarket Station; from there, we ...

ran until 1976. An updated type of mixed train existed in the South Island for a few years during the 1990s, when a few wagons of express containerised freight were attached to the

TranzCoastal The ''Coastal Pacific'' is a long-distance passenger train that runs between Picton and Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is operated by The Great Journeys of New Zealand division of KiwiRail. It was called the ''TranzCo ...

Picton–

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

express. Unlike prior era mixed trains, with their slow en route shunting, this time-sensitive freight travelled swiftly.

North America

In North America, most branch lines, and sections of main lines, were worked by mixed trains. One or more passenger trains had served some routes, which switched to mixed trains as increased use of cars after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

depressed passenger traffic. These were freight trains, that rarely had more than one passenger car, and sometimes ran with a combined passenger, mail and baggage car. Distinct from the typical slow version was the Prince Rupert fish/passenger express. The former slower types were sometimes called way freights, whose end coincided with numerous passenger services over several decades terminating in the 1970s. In the US, the Seaboard Coast Line Atlanta–Augusta mixed train operated until 1983. The last mixed train on the Canadian Pacific Railway was the Midland's

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

–

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

mixed train, which operated until 1979. By 1990, mixed trains existed on only four routes in Canada, namely the

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

(formerly Canadian National Railway) Wabowden–Churchill (ceased 2002) and The Pas–Lynn Lake, the

Ontario Northland The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), or simply Ontario Northland, is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for providing transportation services for passengers and goods in northern Ontario. It reports to ...

Cochrane–Moosonee, and the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Sept Isles–Labrador City/Schefferville. Currently, the

Keewatin Railway The Keewatin Railway Company is a First Nations-owned shortline railroad that operates in northern Manitoba, between The Pas, and Pukatawagan. This is Canada's second First Nations railway, the first being Labrador and Northern Quebec's Tshiueti ...

The Pas The Pas ( ; french: Le Pas) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provinc ...

–

Pukatawagan Pukatawagan is a First Nations community about north of The Pas in Manitoba. It is part of the Mathias Colomb First Nation. It can be reached by train from The Pas by a branch of the Keewatin Railway Company, a passenger service provided by Vi ...

leases passenger cars from

Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Tshiuetin Rail Transportation Inc. is a rail company that owns and operates a Canadian regional railway In the United States, a regional railroad is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or track ...

operates in northern Quebec. These operations are the two surviving mixed trains in North America.

United Kingdom

The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway added passenger coaches to its daily goods in each direction from November 1841. Ffestiniog PDold 5

In 1864, the Ffestiniog Railway introduced mixed trains, with passenger coaches in the middle for the ascent. Down trains were run in up to four separate (uncoupled) portions: loaded slate wagons, goods wagons, passenger carriages and the locomotive running light. This practice changed to a whole descending train, headed by the locomotive, for safety reasons. Hythe Pier Train carrying Freight and Passengers

Hythe Pier Train carrying Freight and Passengers

Opened in 1866, the

Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway The Buckley Railway was opened from Buckley to a connection with the Chester to Holyhead main line on 7 June 1862, to convey coal and finished brickworks products from the Buckley area. Numerous short tramroads had existed in the area from the ...

operated mixed trains during its early years. On market days when space was at a premium, passengers sat on coal in the tender and crowded onto the footplate. The Regulation Act of 1889 generally prohibited traditional mixed trains because the absence of continuous braking apparatus on wagons preceding the coaches jeopardized passenger safety. However, the Board of Trade exercised latitude in enforcing this rule, and some mixed trains ran until the end of the steam era. Goods wagons/vans requiring speedy delivery could be attached to the end of passenger trains. This included horse boxes, cattle wagons, parcels vans, newspaper vans, fish vans, milk tanks and churn vans. Possibly one of the last scheduled mixed services in the UK is the

Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry provide a link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the west side of Southampton Water. It is used both by commuters and tourists, and forms a ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. This service is the oldest continually running pier train in the world (since 1922) and regularly carries diesel fuel to the pier head for the ferry.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mixed Train Passenger rail transport