Anniversary of unique Dover to Dunkerque service celebrated

A unique way of making ferry crossings over the Channel will be celebrated this week as it marks its 75th anniversary.

The Night Ferry, which was actually a train for most of its route, was packed away into specially-designed ferries that travelled from Dover to Dunkerque before continuing on to Paris, Kent News reports.

Featuring distinctive blue carriages, the train was a favourite way for dignitaries, spies and other VIPs to travel between London, Paris and Brussels.

The overnight trains carried up to six sleeping cars, which belonged to Orient Express operator La Compagnie des Wagons-Lits.

Each carriage had to be split up equally to make sure that they maintained their balance, at a specially-constructed dock at Dover, before being loaded onto the ferries for the next part of the journey.

The service ran between 1936 and 1980, when advancements in the Dover to Dunkerque route and the approaching Channel Tunnel meant the charming and luxurious service was no longer viable.

However, its memory has been preserved in a new book published by the International Railway Preservation Society (IRPS) to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the Night Ferry's launch.

Printed in both French and English, the book features previously-unpublished photographs and details of some of the Night Ferry's more famous passengers and journeys.

"We have accounts from people who travelled on the last run in 1980 and those who worked on the trains and ferries," said Mike Collins of the IRPS.

"The new train was in effect Britain’s only direct link with the continent and was to run until October 1980, apart from the years 1939 until 1947 when WW2 brought the service to a temporary halt."

Until the Eurostar service began on November 14th 1994, the Night Ferry was the only dedicated passenger train between the UK and the rest of Europe.