Why Track Gauge Differs Between Countries
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- In this video, I want to share with you some interesting stories about development of railway track gauge throughout history. As you may notice, there are many different track gauges in the world and we discover some reasons behind that.
There are different reasons, but they could be divided in 3 groups, technical, political and economical. It all results in having today narrow track gauge, standard track gauge and broad track gauge.
Standard track gauge is 1435mm and it is mostly used in the world. However, not all countries have them, which usually causes technical problems. Therefore, countries are going towards goal of having all rail tracks at 1435mm, but it is slow process.
Do you think it is a good approach or something different could be a solution? Let me know in the comments below.
If you are interested to learn more about railways and especially about railway track design, check my Rail Track Design Course in the link below, where you get ready to apply knowledge in just 4 weeks.
For all other info, check my Railgenics website.
Track Design Course: www.railgenics.com/rail-track...
Railgenics website: www.railgenics.com
Music: bensound.com
The development of standard gauge came from George Stephenson becoming the chief engineer on a mining railroad that happened to pick 4 feet 8 inches (1422 mm) as its gauge. He found that wheels were binding on the curves, so he added a half inch (1435 mm overall). It was easier to regauge the track than replace all the wheelsets with 1/2 inch shorter axles. Stephenson was a stubborn man and insisted all future projects he worked on match this gauge, and so it became standard gauge in Great Britain by default. Later, Stephenson would admit a wider gauge would have been a better choice, but it was entrenched by then.
The United States ended up using standard gauge because many early locomotives were imported from Great Britain. Other gauges were used, but standard gauge predominated and eventually won out over the others.
standard gauge was good enough for most purposes. a bit wider or bit narrower gauge doesn't change much.
narrow gauges has obvious problems, but how about wider gauge? you have to think about human scale.
2+2 sitting is ideal, 3+2 or 3+3 are not ideal. so wider gauge is not really better.
Japanese Sinkansen use standard gauge, and it can to 3+2. so wider gauge is not necessary.
Actually what it was, the gauge was defined by the carts that 2 horses pulled.
Early on trains were manually operated and instead of completely making a new track, they used the cart sizes that were already established by the width of horse cart.
Then the railroads grew from there.
So it was a horse's backside. 😅.
True story
Philippines uses Narrow Gauge, but we also use Standard Gauge for our metros.
日本の鉄道は今年で150周年を迎えましたが、150年前にイギリスから蒸気機関車が輸入されたのが狭軌の始まりでした。
Japanese railroads celebrated their 150th anniversary this year, but narrow gauge began 150 years ago with the importation of steam locomotives from England.
This channel its glorious!!! I will try to see everyone of the videos!!!
I like the way the thumbnail doesnt even have the flag of the country that came up with standard gauge
Informative video. Good job!
Well done video, History details were very interesting & really made this video pop
4ft 8.5in only became called standard gauge after the passing of the Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act of 1846 which set the set the British Standard Gauge as 4ft 8.5in and Irish Standard Gauge at 5ft 3in. It didn't prohibit the use of Brunel's Broad Gauge of 7ft 0.25in, but limited its usage to lines that would have a physical link to the already in existence GWR lines.
I live in Australia 🇦🇺. The small town is the two different gauges. Standard gauge 1435mm and Irish gauge 1600mm ( 5'3").
@@robertmurray8763 Is it Albury?
@@TrainsForNSWVlogs Ararat.
There was legislation about the same time to make all railways conform to the Irish 1600mm gauge.
However states like NSW and later Queensland ignored the legislation to save money.
@@johnd8892I take it that you're referring to Australia's railways? But all 3 primary gauges date from entire Federation in 1901 and are still not resolved to one standard.
My friend.
Your this video is fully viewed.. Very good
Informations are in this video ..Broad gauge railway is used on completed in India for commercial purpose .. A shortly used narrow gauge is used any particular tourist areas now on India. Thankyou for this very good information❤️
I am Thomaskutty from India.
Thank you, I am looking forward on doing some video for Indian railways as well :)
thanks, this is really helps
Some broad track gauge can be found in Norway. Some narrow gauge is used in Queensland, Australia,
Queensland Railways is mostly 3 ft 6 in colonial gauge. They even have probably the world's only narrow gauge tilt trains. Standard gauge lines come from neighboring New South Wales.
I believe Tasmania also uses Narrow Guage
Warm regards from INDIA, yiu oosted a very good n informative video's
Very interesting
There are also dual gauge rails in Bangladesh.
In Switzerland we have a lot of Meter-gauge because they allow tighter curves. witch is important in the mountainous regions of Switzerland.
We also have railcars witch can change meter gauge to Standard gauge while moving.
That's interesting to hear Nicolas! I've been dealing with narrow gauge projects in New Zealand recently (1068mm), it is very interesting to see how tight these curves are (minimum is 90m). I wonder how these cars manage switching the track? Is it by changing bogies? Or some other technology?
@@railgenics Talgo has a system for changing the gauge while moving, it's at a low speed, but a very efficient system. They have videos of the system working on their UA-cam channel.
Spain/France border has had gauge changing trains for many years. Originally bogies were changed but then they developed axles with wheels which can lock at two widths.
The through Talgo routes that change gauge at the French Spanish border have been discontinued. Best such example is a Talgo sleeping car service between Berlin and Moscow with adjustable wheel sets, taking 5 hours less than regular trains to make the trip.
@@centredoorplugsthornton4112 Spanish High Speed lines are standard gauge, so can connect directly to France. But there are still dual gauge trains within Spain.
Irish Gauge (1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)) in Ireland and Victoria.
You forgot in Spain (and other European countries) we have trains with bogies with variable gauge sizes, where at "slow speed" (10kmh), you can switch between them.
You picked up on my tips on how to pronounce "gauge" 👏😀
Yes, thanks for that one. It was really something new. :D I like how it sounds.
Very good video!! I am from Argentina and in fact here we have the three types of gauge.
Mainly we have a 1676 mm wide gauge in most of our territory, in the Miter, Roca, Sarmiento and San Martín railways, which are the ones that cross the country from side to side and from the center upwards.
The narrow gauge of 1000 mm is only used by the Belgrano railway, which crosses the country from the center to the north. Curiously, being the most extensive if we compare it with the others.
And we also use the standard gauge, 1435mm on the Urquiza railway, which crosses the country from the center to the north but borders the eastern border. You would be surprised to see a complete map of our network :o
Kind regards and keep it up! 👍😎
Hello, thank you for your comment. Actually, I did not know that there are 3 different gauge types in Argentina, that is very interesting. I have Argentina on my list, so could you please recommend me some interesting journeys in Argentina? I would like to check them :)
@@railgenics Of course! There are many things to say but I will try to be brief: To start, you must be in our capital: Buenos Aires. It is from that point where the kilometer 0 of the main railways of the country is. While there you can visit the 4 terminal-palaces that lead to the rest of the network: -Plaza Constitución (Roca Railway 1676mm) -Once (Sarmiento Railway 1676mm) -Federico Lacroze (Urquiza Railway 1435mm) -Retiro (Mitre 1676mm, San Martin 1676mm and Belgrano 1000mm) Each one of these terminals, but above all retirement and constitution, are true palaces worthy of English architecture. Retiro is a particular case, since it brings together in one place 2 different types of trail, these being from 3 different railways and having 3 different buildings for each one next to the other. First, leaving from Retiro, more precisely on the miter railway (1676mm), you can go on modern urban trains that will take you to the interior of the city, or you can also take our 2 different long-distance trains (and advance sales) that will they can take Tucuman (the central north) and Cordoba (in the center of the country). These two terminal stations of the miter are not only broad gauge terminals, since their platforms also work for the narrow gauge, this being possible thanks to the combination with the narrow gauge using a three-rail system called "bitrocha" or "mixed gauge", therefore, on one side of the beach the roads are wide gauge, but on the other side they are narrow gauge. es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrocarril_General_Bartolomé_Miter Focusing on Cordoba Miter, once you arrive you can take the service of the "Tren de las Sierras" now on the narrow gauge thanks to the bi-trocha system. After leaving the city, this train will take you into the mountains of Córdoba, passing through mountain ranges, lakes and tunnels until you reach "Valle Hermoso", the current final station of the route. es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_de_las_Sierras
Returning to Retiro, as I told you before, this terminal works for 3 different railways. But in both Retiro San Martin and Retiro Belgrano, you can only take urban trains. Let's focus on the Belgrano Railway (1000mm). There is a very good option on this railway, since following the tracks to the province of Salta, in northwestern Argentina, we have the "Tren a las Nubes" (Train to the Clounds). Leaving from "San Antonio de los Cobres", this tourist train that only works in season will take you into the Andes mountain range until it reaches its highest point: The "La Polvorilla" viaduct at 4200 meters above sea level and giving a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, to get there you will have to travel by plane to the city of Salta and from there take a bus, since there are no rail services that take you from Buenos Aires to there. es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_a_las_Nubes
Let's go back to Buenos Aires: If you go to the "Plaza Contitución" terminal of the Roca railway (1676mm) Apart from taking the urban services, you can also go on the two different trains that will take you to the Atlantic coast, the services to "Pinamar" and "Mar del Plata". I want to highlight the Roca railway, since it is the southern system that crosses the country, crossing the "Patagonia" desert. This is the case of the "Patagonian Train" which leaves from the "Viedma" station in the province of "Rio Negro" and heads towards the Andes mountain range, ending its journey at the "San Carlos de Bariloche" terminal. or simply Bariloche, right in front of its beautiful lake. If you like high snowy mountains or deserts, this train is for you. But just like the train to the clouds, you will have to take a bus from 'Buenos Aires' to Viedma, since years ago, this train departed from Plaza Construccion, which it no longer does because of the mafia.
es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_Patagónico Interestingly, one of the Patagonian Train Stations, called "Ingeniero Javobacci", is the terminal of another railway called "La Trochita" also known as "Old Patagonian Express" Sharing the station by the same system previously mentioned, this small railway of only 750mm , extends for 197 kilometers into the desert until it reaches Esquel, one of its terminals, and you will be surprised to know that this passenger service is pulled by steam locomotives! of the Baldwin and Henshel brands. Being all from the 40's as well as their cars.
es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Trochita
Let's go further south, precisely in "Ushuaia" in the province of "Tierra del Fuego" where you are surrounded by snowy mountains at all times. Within its park, you can take the small tourist train called "End of the World Train" (also in season) Completely separated from the rest of the line, and passing through 9 kilometers of 500mm. The narrowest gauge in the country and this is also pulled by steam locomotives. How cute!
es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_del_Fin_del_Mundo
Finally, I am very sorry that from Federico Lacroze, terminus of the 1435mm Urquiza Railway, only urban services can be taken. However, its routes extend throughout the eastern sector of the country, reaching "Posadas" in the northern province of "Misiones". I want to highlight this, since in the province of Misiones we find the famous Iguazu Falls, and within the Argentine park, we have a small electric train with a gauge of 600mm. This train is used to move to the different viewpoints that the park has, immersing itself in a very humid jungle similar to the Amazon. Also apart from the rest of the line. es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tren_Ecologico_de_la_Selva
Surely, in all these trips you will find an infinity of abandoned material on the side of the tracks. This is because in the railway field, Argentina had its golden age back in the 50's and 70's, something that ended as a result of the growing economic crisis that we have been suffering, and now it seems that the government buys votes by renewing unnecessary material, leaving in disuse the little historical material or that is still useful..
To finish, I apologize for the excessive amount of text I wrote, but it is almost impossible to summarize all that in a short way. Anyway, I don't think I missed anything.
I hope you can continue making this good and informative content :)
Thank you for your attention and I hope that one day you can come here and enjoy everything that my country has to offer. A cordial greeting! 👋
@@ulisesysustrenes Thank you very much for so extensive explanation. You saved me a lot of research time. I will definitely come to film some trains in Argentina, probably next year. I see there is a lot of materials :D
I see that you mentioned few seasonal trains. What does it mean? Are they running only in summer?
@@railgenics Hello, I apologize for the delay. When I say season I mean that the trips are made at a certain time of the year. More precisely, the tourist season, which here in Argentina is in winter (approximately from April to August). And specifically in tourist services you have to buy the ticket in advance through the corresponding website.
I forgot to mention a detail about the Sierras de Córdoba train, on the narrow gauge: it's not a train as such, it's actually a motor-coach, just two separate passenger coaches, like the Ganz models, only newer. However this does not affect the trip, in fact it makes it faster.
Another gauge in Argentina, 0,75 m, with the Old Patagonian Express, from Ingeniero Jacobacci to Esquel.
Australia has three different track gauges
- Irish Broad Gauge at 1600 mm
- Standard Gauge at 1435 mm
- Narrow Gauge at 1067 mm
Brazil has 1.6m gauge and 1.0m and 0.76m
Lovely, although not perfect for interoperability :)
@@railgenics Well… In Sounthern East of Brasil there is a 3rd Rail just in case meter or 1.6 can go by
There's one isolated 1440 mm standard gauge line in Brazil.
@@railgenicsthere is current video from Brazil if 1600mm gauge locomotives pulling long and heavy trains of 1000 mm gauge wagons on three rail track with the aid of special converter wagons to align couplings.
Not at all widely known outside Brazil.
Argentina we have 4 different gauge. 750mm., 1000mm., 1435mm. and 1676mm.
Then there’s Australia with narrow, standard and broad gauges. It differs by state.
And differs by routes and purpose within most states.
BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (San Francisco) is Indian board gauge 5' 6". Standard 4 8-1/2" gauge was greatly chosen because is worked easily for freight in the early 1800s. Any new train concept should likely be about double the current width to facilitate much greater passenger comfort and multi level height stability. This likely for the extended future with maglev trains. Right now Indian broad gauge at 5' 6" is the best regular used gauge for passenger and dual stack trains. Indian railways don't use well cars for double stack trains and they run those double stack containers above the railroad trucks under electric catenary. The greater stability of 5' 6" gauge allows for significant greater height than standard gauge.
I always wonder why Indian Railways don’t use well cars for double stack container freight trains . Indian Rail had to extend their catenary posts to accomodate the height of the double stacks and the pantos are stretched to the limit.
@@judefernandez827A much greater concern with structure gauge vertical dimensions are bridges and, especially, _tunnels._ This even led to abandoning / not reintroducing electrification in the Csacade tunnel in the USA which necessitated a greatly complex ventilation system.
I assume India doesn't have many (if any) tunnels on the routes of double-stack trains.
@@judefernandez827 IR uses special high rise pantographs on the WDFC route. Normal pantos won't be able to reach that height.
Newest railways in Africa are standard gauge. These include the Gautrain in South Africa and new main lines in Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia.
At times different track gauge is used to build railways to thwart any perceived encroachment of other rail companies or competition. Philadelphia built its streetcar lines to 5 ft 2.5 in to keep horse drawn wagons from riding its rails. Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and New Orleans also got so called Pennsylvania trolley gauge. Philadelphia's Market Frankford subway elevated line runs on 5 ft 2.5 in, making Philadelphia the only city to have 2 track gauges for its metro, other than San Francisco with standard gauge Muni and 5ft6in BART.
Railways in the Confederate states before and during the Civil War ran on slightly wider than standard gauge. A crude form of gauge adjustment were trains with wheels that could run on both gauges.
Why not trains with variable guage chassis?
link is broken :(
In Australia we have 3 gauges: 1435mm, 1600mm and 1967mm !!
1067mm not 1967mm
When railways are built or rebuilt in Australia, standard gauge is usually chosen. Melbourne-Adelaide was rebuilt from 1600 mm to 1435 mm during the 1990s, at the cost of suspension of passenger service, which was reinstated but never fully recovered.
British standard gauge is 4’ 8.5” (1435mm). Irish standard gauge is 5’ 3” (1600mm). When railways were first built in Australia the different colonies used British or Irish engineers, who tended to build to their home gauge.
@@arwelpmore to do with badly financed lines in states that ignored the legislation for all Australian railways to be 1600mm as a means of saving money
France (standard) to Spain (narrow) as well.
Miniature gauge steam engines
👏👏👍👍
If we started again in the 1800's we would all use a 1.825 meter gauge.
Simply put you can run heavier faster trains on a broad gauge track thus making your rail network more productive.
A 2.0 meter gauge however would be too expensive to build and it's capacity advantage wouldn't justify the extra cost.
Doesn't help if you have to go through hilly areas.
@@danensis So that’s a fallacy as the addition viaducts and cuttings would cost 20% more per mile but your runnings costs are 10% lower per ton of cargo. So over a 40 year period you’re profits would be Up 200% compared to Russian gauge.
Brunel had chosen the wide gauge to fit a large firebox / boiler between very large wheels of the locomotives.
But yes, very wide gauge allows for wider cars carrying larger loads (including those oversized for a regular loading gauge) or perpendicular sleeping compartments on _both_ sides of a passenger car.
If you say that narrow gauge is not very efficient, why do some countries still used it, even develop it as their main line gauge. The example is my country, narrow gauge track has been developed through years & now developing for the high speed 160km/h for narrow gauge track. Maybe the efficient point for some countries is different. For my country standard gauge is the most not efficient due to lack of all resources.
Hello, which country is yours? I can think of couple of reasons, such that it is very expensive to change the system to normal gauge. Also, some countries, like New Zealand, has entirely narrow gauge, so switching to standard gauge is just too expensive and maybe not necessary. Generally, drive for interoperability in Europe between countries is the main reason why 1435mm has become standard nowadays, and other countries out of Europe usually adopt the same for new railway lines, for a simple reason that they can use the same standards (like EN or AREMA), order similar equipment from suppliers etc. I am sure there are other reasons as well like historical, such as Australia, where you even have 3 or more different gauges. Hope this explains a bit :)
India also has many track gauge
I see why Europe have different gauges cus other countries can't use freight trains for resupply in war
In Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand use 1000mm gauge. I'm not sure other ASEAN countries have the same gauge.
Thanks, there are multiple and very diverse track gauges throughout the world. It is amazing how many new gauges I discovered from people here :)
Hello, in INDIA Majority tracks use 5 feet. 6 inch tracks ( 1676 mm) which our engineers believe are more stable for a big country, as diverse weather conditions also a few tracks are meter and narrow gauge too.
Here in New Zealand we have a very specific narrow gauge which only we have. This rail gauge is so rare the mill have a specific to New Zealand set of rolling dies which the mill keeps only to supply N.Z
NZ used 3ft 6in narrow gauge, which is also used in Japan, parts of southeast Asia and southern Africa.
Yet Americans Finds A way to Overlap the standard gauge rails with 11ft wide locomotives.
what is an ideal size ... if trains were built a new
Very good question. I am not very sure what would be the right answer. Today's standard is 1435mm and there is amazing story about that dating back eve n during Roman's Empire. What I could tell you is that narrow gauge railways are definitely not the answer, so the answer is probably somewhere in wide gauge railways. :)
@@railgenics for trams and inner-cities with narrow streets, narrow gauge would be an advantage for it's narrower turning circles. For some cities, narrow gauge wou;d have been invented.
Down here America, we still have A standard gauge Of 4/8, locomotives still standing at 16ft something tall.
@@railgenicsregarding the "ideal" track gauge: wouldn't weight limits be the main consideration. This leaves out passenger operations, which with there light weight have been able to run on dual gauge track with adjustable axles in some instances.
So if we are talking freight: what are axle load limits; how does weight effect rail wear; what are the structural limits of rails or metal wheels; and, then there is the feasibility of bridge structures?
By the way have you done a similar video on track/railbed loading?
I think the is no ideal size, since with today's technology it just doesn't make any difference.
The French can make high speed trains run at 550+ kph on standard gauge track, and the Americans can build massive locomotives with axle loads in excess of 35 tons on standard gauge.
So making the gauge slightly wider or narrower wouldn't change anything.
india choose broad giage over standard
no wonder d rails r into loss making
Kisses dye to subsidies, and low fares, we are cheapest in the world and have a karge networks, few routes are sure to make kisses but still we need to maintain them
Indian railways aren't privatised😂😂
У нас,в России и странах СНГ железнодорожная колня 1520 сантиметров!
Wrong it is 1520 mm.
Even a non local knows that.
It's not just track gauge, that's only part of it loading gauge is the main problem as trains may be the same gauge, but cannot run on all tracks of the same gauge. Loading gauge however means weights and clearances the trains can pass, past platforms though tunnels, under bridges, trackside buildings etc. before a train can run a section of new track special trains have to be run with probes to check the loading gauge set to that particular train or trains dimensions which will run that line. That's just a brief explanation by the way.
AA 199 AA 199 AA 199
I downvoted this video. You made 2 key mistakes:
1. Broader gauge does not requires more space. Space depends on loading gauge. The Eurotunnel shuttle has the widest loading gauge and it uses standard 1435 mm track gauge.
2. Russia did not chose a different gauge for military reason. It was a historical accident.
Broad gauge needs more space as bends have to be shallower. You would need major engineering works to get broad gauge through hilly areas.
Russia chose 5 foot (1524 mm) gauge on advice of enfineers from Southern USA.
5 foot gauge was a 'standard' gauge of Southern States until after the end of Civil War when the gauge in all the USA had been unified.
But when it came to unifying Russian gauge with European (1435 mm), it was already too late.
Maybe Ukraine will gradually convert to European gauge, but probably not.
Fun fact -
Train gauge widths are originally defined by 2 horses asses. As the width of two horses that pulled carts (I believe in Rome) was the standard charter, and the grpup of people that designed the carts, designed the original trams. So they just used the same axel width.. and therefore the tram gauge width was the width of what 2 horses could pull.
Don't believe me. - just goole it
I heard the same story somewhere, although not sure if that's truth 😄
But Sorry To Say , After A Useless Big Lecture - The Main Thing That Is Sizes Of Of Narrow Gauge & Braod Gauge U Hv Not Mentioned ! Which Is Must . People Don't Want To Know The History Or Geography - The Sizes Of Gauges R Most Important To Know , Which U Hv Not Mentioned . An Useless Video Ultimately !! - Broad Gauge Is 5ft 6Inches & Standard 4ft 8.5 Inches - Meter Gauge 1 Meter - Narrow Gauge Is 750 Sometime 760 mm wide ! .....
Broad gauge is everything [considerably] broader than 1435 mm.
Russian gauge (1520 mm ≈ 5 ft.) is 85 mm wider than that, and while considered _normal gauge_ in ex-USSR countries, it's _broad_ by Western standards.
And there are many more both broad and narrow gauge standards than you listed:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_track_gauge
In the former russian empire the 5-feet gauge (1524/1520 mm) came from Confederative States of America, before their fail in the American Civil War. After win of the Northern States all US railroads were converted into Stephenson gauge :-).