{{Short description|Passenger coach that starts on one train, and ends on another}} [[File:05 052a Bf Irún, RENFE-Bmp, SNCF-Bc.jpg|thumb|300px|A Paris–Algeciras through coach (at right) being shunted for bogie exchange at Irun railway station, Spain, 1993.|alt=A Paris–Algeciras through coach (at right) being shunted at Irun railway station, Spain, 1993.]] In rail terminology, a '''through coach''' is a passenger car (coach) that is re-marshalled during the course of its journey. It begins the journey attached to one train, and arrives at its destination attached to another train.<ref name="irfca.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-ops.html |title=Railway Operations - I: Train Services – Q. What are 'slip coaches' and 'through coaches'? |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2010 |website=irfca.org |accessdate=30 August 2013}}</ref><ref name=hiddeneurope>{{cite web |url=http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk/train-services-of-yesteryear |title=Letter from Europe: Train services of yesteryear |last1=Gardner |first1=Nicky |last2=Kries |first2=Susanne |date=30 June 2011 |website=hiddeneurope.co.uk |publisher=hidden europe |accessdate=30 August 2013}}</ref>
Through coaches save their transit passengers the need to change trains themselves.<ref name="irfca.org"/> They also increase the number of direct links offered by the train operator(s).<ref name=hiddeneurope/>
Most frequently in the form of sleeping or couchette cars, through coaches have commonly been used for long-distance journeys, especially in continental Europe, although they are much less common now than they were in the early 1970s.<ref name=hiddeneurope/>
== International == In 2010 and 2011, the through Basel – Moscow sleeping car ({{convert|2,856|km|abbr=on|disp=or}} in 37 hours and 11 minutes) was attached successively to the following trains:<ref>[http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/reservierungsubersicht_der_db_ag_2010_2011.pdf DBAG Reservation List]{{dead link|date=July 2017}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rasp.rw.by/en/route/?from=Minsk&to=Warszawa&date=everyday|title=Train timetable|author=|date=|work=RW.by|access-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> * from Basel SBB to Hannover Hbf: CNL 472 ''Aurora'' Basel SBB – Copenhagen; * from Hannover Hbf to Warszawa Wschodnia: ''EN 447'' Amsterdam – Warszawa Wschodnia; * from Warszawa Wschodnia to Brest: Train 405 Bohumin – Brest ** bogie exchange at the international border because of a break of gauge from {{Track gauge|1435mm|allk=on}} to {{Track gauge|1520mm|lk=on}} gauge * from Brest to Moscow: Train ''D 22'' Brest – Moscow.
==Germany== For nearly 100 years, from 1926‒2025 through carriages have connected the main cities of Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne, via Niebüll station and the {{ill|Niebüll–Dagebüll branch line|de|Kleinbahn Niebüll–Dagebüll|dk|Nibøl-Dagebøl-banen}}, run by the {{ill|Norddeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft Niebüll|de}}, to the Dagebüll for direct transfer via ferry to the islands of Föhr and Amrum.<ref name="neumann-2025-07-25">{{cite news|url=https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/mensch-metropole/letzte-fahrt-mit-der-bahn-von-berlin-direkt-an-die-nordsee-warum-eine-tradition-zu-ende-geht-li.2344476|title=Letzte Fahrt von Berlin an die Nordsee: Warum eine Tradition nach 99 Jahren endet|language=de|trans-title=Last trip from Berlin to the North Sea: Why a tradition ends after 99 years|first=Peter|last=Neumann|date=2025-07-25|access-date=2025-09-12|quote=Seit 1926 können Urlauber ohne umzusteigen von Berlin zu den Schiffen nach Föhr und Amrum reisen. Nun stellt die Bahn die durchgehende Verbindung ein. … „Die Berliner Kurswagen waren heute zum letzten Mal unterwegs“, sagte Bernd Jensen von der Norddeutschen Eisenbahn Niebüll GmbH, kurz: NEG, am Freitag der ''Berliner Zeitung''. Auch andere Verbindungen dieser Art werden bald eingestellt.}}</ref>
The last through carriage from Berlin to Dagebüll Mole ran in July 2025.<ref name="neumann-2025-07-25"/>
==See also== {{portal|Trains}} * Dividing train *Express train *Interchange (freight rail) *Slip coach *Section (rail transport)
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Rail transport operations Category:Passenger railroad cars