diff --git a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/modules/train-scheduling/booking-journey.service.ts b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/modules/train-scheduling/booking-journey.service.ts
index 426bd37be..601ba91ee 100644
--- a/apps/edr-freight-api/src/modules/train-scheduling/booking-journey.service.ts
+++ b/apps/edr-freight-api/src/modules/train-scheduling/booking-journey.service.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { InjectDataSource } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
 import { DataSource, EntityManager, In } from 'typeorm';
 import { Freight } from '@edr/types';
 
+import { YardFacilitiesService } from '../rule-engine/services/yard-facilities.service';
 import { Booking } from '../bookings/entities/booking.entity';
 import { ClearanceMilestoneService } from '../contracts/clearance-milestone.service';
 import { Yard } from '../rule-engine/entities/yard.entity';
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ export class BookingJourneyService {
 
   constructor(
     @InjectDataSource() private readonly dataSource: DataSource,
+    private readonly yardFacilities: YardFacilitiesService,
     @Optional() private readonly milestoneService?: ClearanceMilestoneService,
   ) {}
 
@@ -63,6 +65,7 @@ export class BookingJourneyService {
       );
     }
     await this.assertTrainAtYard(schedule, booking.originYardId, 'origin');
+    await this.assertYardCanHandleCargo(booking, booking.originYardId, 'origin');
 
     const now = new Date();
     await this.dataSource.transaction(async (manager) => {
@@ -99,6 +102,7 @@ export class BookingJourneyService {
       );
     }
     await this.assertTrainAtYard(schedule, booking.destinationYardId, 'destination');
+    await this.assertYardCanHandleCargo(booking, booking.destinationYardId, 'destination');
 
     // Intercity has no clearance/delivery tail — unloading completes it. Import/
     // export continue into clearance, keyed on the booking's own arrival.
@@ -306,6 +310,33 @@ export class BookingJourneyService {
     });
   }
 
+  /**
+   * INTERCITY ONLY. Intercity cargo rides a passing train and is handled at the
+   * booking's own yards, so those yards need the equipment to do it — a train
+   * stopping somewhere is not the same as somewhere being able to load it.
+   *
+   * Import/export are untouched: their cargo is handled at the route's terminal
+   * ports, not at an arbitrary mid-corridor yard, and gating them here would
+   * block existing traffic.
+   *
+   * Lives here rather than in the controller so the checkpoint-driven
+   * autoUnloadAtYard path cannot route around it.
+   */
+  private async assertYardCanHandleCargo(
+    booking: Booking,
+    yardId: string,
+    side: 'origin' | 'destination',
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    if (booking.tradeDirection !== 'DOMESTIC') return;
+    const facility = await this.yardFacilities.facilityForYard(yardId);
+    if (!facility?.hasFacility) {
+      throw new BadRequestException(
+        `${facility?.yardLabel ?? 'This yard'} has no load/unload facility — an intercity booking cannot be ` +
+          `${side === 'origin' ? 'loaded at its origin' : 'unloaded at its destination'} here.`,
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * The train is "at" a yard when the latest recorded checkpoint is that yard,
    * or — for a booking boarding at the train's own origin — when the train has