Track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge or track gage is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails.
All vehicles on a rail network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, and in the earliest days of railways the selection of a proposed railway's gauge was a key issue. As the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network.
In some places there is a distinction between the nominal gauge and the actual gauge, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, and this device is also referred to as a track gauge.
The terms structure gauge and loading gauge, both widely used, have little connection with track gauge. Both refer to two-dimensional cross-section profiles, surrounding the track and vehicles running on it. The structure gauge specifies the outline into which new or altered structures must not encroach. The loading gauge is the corresponding envelope within which rail vehicles and their loads must be contained. If an exceptional load or a new type of vehicle is being assessed to run, it is required to conform to the route's loading gauge. Conformance ensures that traffic will not collide with lineside structures.
Selection of gauge
Early track gauges
The earliest form of railway was a wooden wagonway, along which single wagons were manhandled, almost always in or from a mine or quarry. Initially the wagons were guided by human muscle power; subsequently by various mechanical methods. Timber rails wore rapidly: later, flat cast-iron plates were provided to limit the wear. In some localities, the plates were made L-shaped, with the vertical part of the L guiding the wheels; this is generally referred to as a "plateway". Flanged wheels eventually became universal, and the spacing between the rails had to be compatible with that of the wagon wheels.As the guidance of the wagons was improved, short strings of wagons could be connected and pulled by teams of horses, and the track could be extended from the immediate vicinity of the mine or quarry, typically to a navigable waterway. The wagons were built to a consistent pattern and the track would be made to suit the needs of the horses and wagons: the gauge was more critical. The Penydarren Tramroad of 1802 in South Wales, a plateway, spaced these at over the outside of the upstands.
The Penydarren Tramroad probably carried the first journey by a locomotive, in 1804, and it was successful for the locomotive, but unsuccessful for the track: the plates were not strong enough to carry its weight. A considerable progressive step was made when cast iron edge rails were first employed; these had the major axis of the rail section configured vertically, giving a much stronger section to resist bending forces, and this was further improved when fish-belly rails were introduced.
Edge rails required a close match between rail spacing and the configuration of the wheelsets, and the importance of the gauge was reinforced. Railways were still seen as local concerns: there was no appreciation of a future connection to other lines, and selection of the track gauge was still a pragmatic decision based on local requirements and prejudices, and probably determined by existing local designs of vehicles.
Thus, the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway in the West of Scotland used ; the Dundee and Newtyle Railway in the north-east of Scotland adopted ; the Redruth and Chasewater Railway in Cornwall chose.
The Arbroath and Forfar Railway opened in 1838 with a gauge of, and the Ulster Railway of 1839 used
Standard gauge appears
Locomotives were being developed in the first decades of the 19th century; they took various forms, but George Stephenson developed a successful locomotive on the Killingworth Wagonway, where he worked. His designs were so successful that they became the standard, and when the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened in 1825, it used his locomotives, with the same gauge as the Killingworth line,.The Stockton and Darlington line was immensely successful, and when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first intercity line, was built, it used the same gauge. It was also hugely successful, and the gauge, became the automatic choice: "standard gauge".
Gauge differences
The Liverpool and Manchester was quickly followed by other trunk railways, with the Grand Junction Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway forming a huge critical mass of standard gauge. When Bristol promoters planned a line from London, they employed the innovative engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He decided on a wider gauge, to give greater stability, and the Great Western Railway adopted a gauge of, later eased to. This became known as broad gauge. The Great Western Railway was successful and was greatly expanded, directly and through friendly associated companies, widening the scope of broad gauge.At the same time, other parts of Britain built railways to standard gauge, and British technology was exported to European countries and parts of North America, also using standard gauge. Britain polarised into two areas: those that used broad gauge and those that used standard gauge. In this context, standard gauge was referred to as "narrow gauge" to indicate the contrast. Some smaller concerns selected other non-standard gauges: the Eastern Counties Railway adopted. Most of them converted to standard gauge at an early date, but the GWR's broad gauge continued to grow.
The larger railway companies wished to expand geographically, and large areas were considered to be under their control. When a new independent line was proposed to open up an unconnected area, the gauge was crucial in determining the allegiance that the line would adopt: if it was broad gauge, it must be friendly to the Great Western railway; if narrow gauge, it must favour the other companies. The battle to persuade or coerce that choice became very intense, and became referred to as "the gauge wars".
As passenger and freight transport between the two areas became increasingly important, the difficulty of moving from one gauge to the other—the break of gauge—became more prominent and more objectionable. In 1845 a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges was created to look into the growing problem, and this led to the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846, which forbade the construction of broad gauge lines unconnected with the broad gauge network. The broad gauge network was eventually converted—a progressive process completed in 1892, called gauge conversion. The same Act mandated the gauge of for use in Ireland.
Gauge selection in other countries
As railways were built in other countries, the gauge selection was pragmatic: the track would have to fit the rolling stock. If locomotives were imported from elsewhere, especially in the early days, the track would be built to fit them. In some cases standard gauge was adopted, but many countries or companies chose a different gauge as their national gauge, either by governmental policy, or as a matter of individual choice.Couplers
To keep the rail traffic compatible within a network, not only the track gauge needs to be the same, but also the couplers, at least for locomotive-hauled vehicles. For this reason, most of the standard gauge railways in Europe use the standard buffers and chain coupler with some use of the buckeye coupler in the UK, for locomotive hauled vehicles, and some use Scharfenberg couplers on suburban multiple unit as well as variants of the SA3 couplers on some rolling stock, while narrow gauge railways use a variation of couplers, since they often are isolated from each other, so standardisation is not needed. Similarly, standard gauge railways in Canada, the US and Mexico use the janney coupler or the compatible tightlock coupling for locomotive-hauled equipment.Terminology
Terms such as broad gauge and narrow gauge do not have any fixed meaning, although standard gauge is generally known world-wide as being.In British practice, the space between the rails of a track is colloquially referred to as the "four-foot", and the space between two tracks the "six-foot", descriptions relating to the respective dimensions.
Standard gauge
In modern usage the term "standard gauge" refers to. Standard gauge is dominant in majority countries of the world.Broad gauge
In modern usage, the term "broad gauge" generally refers to track spaced significantly wider than.Broad gauge is the dominant gauge in countries in Indian subcontinent, the former Soviet Union, Mongolia and Finland, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile and Ireland.
Medium gauge
The term "medium gauge" had different meanings throughout history, depending on the local dominant gauge in use.In 1840s, the Irish gauge was considered a medium gauge compared to Brunel's broad gauge and the narrow gauge, nowadays being standard gauge.
Narrow gauge
In modern usage, the term "narrow gauge" generally refers to track spaced significantly narrower than.Narrow gauge is the dominant or second dominant gauge in countries of Southern, Central Africa, East Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Central America and South America,
During the period known as "the Battle of the gauges", Stephenson's standard gauge was commonly known as "narrow gauge", while Brunel's railway's gauge was termed "broad gauge". Many narrow gauge railways were built in mountainous regions such as Wales, the Rocky Mountains of North America, Central Europe and South America. Industrial railways and mine railways across the world are often narrow gauge. Sugar cane and banana plantations are often served by narrow gauges.
Minimum-gauge
of under were used for some industrial railways in space-restricted environments such as mines or farms. The French company Decauville developed and tracks, mainly for mines; Heywood developed gauge for estate railways. The most common minimum-gauges were,,,, or.Break of gauge
Through operation between railway networks with different gauges was originally impossible; goods had to be transshipped and passengers had to change trains. This was obviously a major obstacle to convenient transport, and in Great Britain, led to political intervention.On narrow gauge lines, Rollbocks or transporter wagons are used: standard gauge wagons are carried on narrow gauge lines on these special vehicles, generally with rails of the wider gauge to enable those vehicles to roll on and off at transfer points.
On the Transmongolian Railway, Russia and Mongolia use while China uses the standard gauge of 1,435 mm. At the border, each carriage is lifted and its bogies are changed. The operation can take several hours for a whole train of many carriages.
Other examples include crossings into or out of the former Soviet Union: Ukraine/Slovakia border on the Bratislava–L'viv train, and the Romania/Moldova border on the Chisinau-Bucharest train.
A system developed by Talgo and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles of Spain uses variable gauge wheelsets; at the border between France and Spain, through passenger trains are drawn slowly through apparatus that alters the gauge of the wheels, which slide laterally on the axles. This is fully described in Automatic Gauge Changeover for Trains in Spain.
A similar system is used between China and Central Asia, and between Poland and Ukraine, using the SUW 2000 and INTERGAUGE variable axle systems. China and Poland use standard gauge, while Central Asia and Ukraine use.
Dual gauge
Where a railway corridor is used by trains of two gauges, mixed gauge track can be provided, in which three rails are supported in the same track structure. This arose particularly when individual railway companies chose different gauges and were subsequently required to share a route; this is most commonly found at the approaches to city terminals, where land space is limited.Trains of different gauges sharing the same track can save considerable expense compared to using separate tracks for each gauge, but introduces complexities in track maintenance and signalling, and may require speed restrictions for some trains. If the difference between the two gauges is large enough, for example between and, three-rail dual-gauge is possible, but if not, for example between and, four-rail triple-gauge is used. Dual-gauge rail lines are used in Switzerland, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, North Korea, Spain, Tunisia and Vietnam.
, England
On the GWR, there was an extended period between political intervention in 1846 that prevented major expansion of its broad gauge and the final gauge conversion to standard gauge in 1892.
During this period, there were many locations where practicality required mixed gauge operation, and in station areas, the track configuration was extremely complex. This was compounded by the fact that the common rail had to be at the platform side in stations, so in many cases, standard-gauge trains needed to be switched from one side of the track to the other at the approach. A special fixed point arrangement was devised for the purpose, where the track layout was simple enough. Jenkins and Langley give an illustration and description.
In some cases, mixed gauge trains operated, conveying wagons of both gauges. For example, MacDermot says:
In November 1871 a novelty in the shape of a mixed-gauge goods train was introduced between Truro and Penzance. It was worked by a narrow-gauge engine, and behind the narrow-gauge trucks came a broad-gauge match-truck with wide buffers and sliding shackles, followed by the broad-gauge trucks. Such trains continued to run in West Cornwall until the abolition of the Broad Gauge; they had to stop or come down to walking pace at all stations where fixed points existed and the narrow portion side-stepped to right or left.
Nominal track gauge
The nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a certain distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical.Rolling stock on the network must have running gear that are compatible with the gauge, and therefore the gauge is a key parameter in determining interoperability, but there are many others – see below. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the railway company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only, and independent hauliers provided wagons suited to the gauge. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as "four-foot gauge wagons", say, if the track had a gauge of four feet. This nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for.
An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a slight variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons.
Units
The gauge is defined in Imperial units, metric units or SI units.Imperial units were established in the United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. The United States customary units for length did not agree with the Imperial system until 1959, when one International yard was defined as 0.9144 meters, i.e. 1 foot as 0.3048 meter and 1 inch as 25.4 mm.
The list shows the Imperial and other units that have been used for track gauge definitions:
| Unit | SI equivalent | Track gauge example | ||
| Imperial feet | 304.8 mm | |||
| Castilian feet | 278.6 mm | 6 Castilian feet = | 313.85 mm | Prussian feet = |
| Austrian fathom | 1520 mm | Austrian fathom = |
Temporary way – permanent way
The temporary way is the temporary track often used for construction, replaced by the permanent way when construction nears completion. In many cases narrow-gauge track is used for a temporary way because of the convenience in laying it and changing its location over unimproved ground.In restricted spaces such as tunnels, the temporary way might be double track even though the tunnel will ultimately be single track. The Airport Rail Link in Sydney had construction trains of gauge, which were replaced by permanent tracks of gauge.
During World War I trench warfare led to a relatively static disposition of infantry, requiring considerable logistics to bring them support staff and supplies. Dense light railway networks using temporary narrow gauge track sections were established by both sides for this purpose.
In 1939 it was proposed to construct the western section of the Yunnan–Burma Railway using a gauge of, since such tiny or "toy" gauge facilitates the tightest of curves in difficult terrain.
Maintenance standards
Infrastructure owners specify permitted variances from the nominal gauge, and the required interventions when non-compliant gauge is detected. For example, the Federal Railroad Administration in the USA specifies that the actual gauge of a 1,435 mm track that is rated for a maximum of must be between and.Advantages and disadvantages of different track gauges
Speed, capacity, and economy are generally objectives of rail transport, but there is often an inverse relationship between these priorities. There is a common misconception that a narrower gauge permits a tighter turning radius, but for practical purposes, there is no meaningful relationship between gauge and curvature.Construction cost
Narrower gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are usually lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is thus often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. It is also used in sparsely populated areas, with low potential demand, and for temporary railways that will be removed after short-term use, such as for construction, the logging industry, the mining industry, or large-scale construction projects, especially in confined spaces. For temporary railways which will be removed after short-term use, such as logging, mining or large-scale construction projects, a narrow-gauge railway is substantially cheaper and easier to install and remove. Such railways have almost vanished, however, due to the capabilities of modern trucks. In many countries, narrow-gauge railways were built as branch lines to feed traffic to standard-gauge lines due to lower construction costs. The choice was often not between a narrow- and standard-gauge railway, but between a narrow-gauge railway and none at all.Broader gauge railways are generally more expensive to build, because they are usually heavier in construction, use larger cars and locomotives, as well as larger bridges, larger tunnels. But broader gauges offer higher speed and capacity. For routes with high traffic, greater capacity may more than offset the higher initial cost of construction.
Interchangeability
In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is Interchangeability or standardization. Once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one. This is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. For rail gauge in particular, break-of-gauge often causes inefficiency far in excess of the merits of any particular gauge. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a small number of gauges predominate worldwide.Different gauge railways cannot freely interchange rolling stock within themselves, and the transfer of passengers and freight require time-consuming manual labour or substantial capital expenditure. Some bulk commodities, such as coal, ore, and gravel, can be mechanically transshipped, but this is time-consuming, and the equipment required for the transfer is often complex to maintain.
If rail lines with other gauges coexist in a network, in times of peak demand it is difficult to move rolling stock to where it is needed when a break of gauge exists. Sufficient rolling stock must be available to meet a narrow-gauge railway's peak demand, and the surplus equipment generates no cash flow during periods of low demand. In regions where narrow gauge forms a small part of the rail network, extra money is needed to design, produce or import narrow-gauge equipment.
Solutions to interchangeability problems include bogie exchanges, a rollbock system, variable gauge, dual gauge or gauge conversion.
Growth potential
Historically, in many places narrow gauge railways were built to lower standards to prioritize cheap and fast construction. As a result, many narrow-gauge railways have often limited scope for increase in maximum load or speed. An example is the use of low curve radius, which simplifies construction but limits the maximum allowed speed.In Japan, a few narrow-gauge lines have been upgraded to standard-gauge mini-shinkansen to allow through service by standard-gauge high-speed trains. Due to the alignment and minimum curve radius of those lines, however, the maximum speed of the through service is the same as the original narrow-gauge line. If a narrow-gauge line is built to a higher standard, like Japan's proposed Super Tokkyu, this problem can be minimized.
If narrow-gauge rails are designed with potential growth in mind, obstacles to future growth would be similar to other rail gauges. For lines constructed to a lower standard, speed can be increased by realigning rail lines to increase the minimum curve radius, reducing the number of intersections or introducing tilting trains.
Dominant gauges
As of, approximately 61% of the world's railways use the. Narrow gauges in India are being converted to broad gauge, while new standard gauge railways are being built in Africa.Proportions
Total for each type of gauge.| Gauge | Installation | Percentage | Percentage |
| Narrow gauge | 15.8% | 17.5% | |
| Standard gauge | 54.9% | 60.6% | |
| Broad gauge | 29.3% | 21.8% | |
| Totals | 99.0% | 99.9% |
Future
Further convergence of rail gauge use seems likely, as countries seek to build inter-operable networks, and international organisations seek to build macro-regional and continental networks. The European Union has set out to develop inter-operable freight and passenger rail networks across its area, and is seeking to standardise gauge, signalling and electrical power systems. As countries build High-speed rails, they also tend to converge these rails' gauge to standard gauge, with the exceptions of Uzbekistan and Russia.Europe
EU funds have been dedicated to assist Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia in the building of some key railway lines of standard gauge, and to assist Spain and Portugal in the construction of high-speed lines to connect Iberian cities to one another and to the French high-speed lines. The EU has developed plans for improved freight rail links between Spain, Portugal, and the rest of Europe.Trans-Asian Railway
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific is planning a Trans-Asian Railway that will link Europe and the Pacific, with a Northern Corridor from Europe to the Korean Peninsula, a Southern Corridor from Europe to Southeast Asia, and a North–South corridor from Northern Europe to the Persian Gulf. All these would encounter breaks of gauge as they cross Asia. Current plans have mechanized facilities at the breaks of gauge to move containers from train to train rather than widespread gauge conversion. The Northern Corridor through Russia already operates since before year 2000, with increasing volumes China–Europe.The Americas
- 2008: Proposed link between Venezuela and Colombia
- 2008: Venezuela via Brazil to Argentina – standard gauge
- 2008: A proposed metre gauge line across Southern Paraguay to link Argentina at Resistencia to Brazil at Cascavel; both those lines are, and the new line would allow "bioceanic" running from the Atlantic port of Paranaguá in Brazil to that of Antofagasta in Chile on the Pacific.
Africa
Lines for iron ore to Kribi in Cameroon are likely to be with a likely connection to the same port from the Cameroon system. This line owned by Sundance Resources may be shared with Legend Mining.
Nigeria's railways are mostly Cape gauge. The Lagos–Kano Standard Gauge Railway is a gauge conversion project by the Nigerian Government to create a north-south standard gauge rail link. The first converted segment, between Abuja and Kaduna, was completed in July 2016.
AIHSRN is a 50 year plan approved by the African Union to connect the capital cities and major centres by highspeed railways.