Break of gauge
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With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one track gauge (the distance between the rails, or between the wheels of trains designed to run on those rails) meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock generally cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, leading to passengers having to change trains and freight requiring transloading or transshipping; this can add delays, costs, and inconvenience to travel on such a route.
History
Break of gauge was a common issue in the early days of railways, as standards had not yet been set and different organizations each used their own favored gauge on the lines they controlled—sometimes for mechanical and engineering reasons (optimizing for geography or particular types of load and rolling stock), and sometimes for commercial and competitive reasons (interoperability and non-interoperability within and between companies and alliances were often key strategic moves).
Various solutions other than transloading were conceived even in the early era of railways in Britain
The lack of a standardized gauge was a significant problem in transportation in the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
See the
Overcoming a break of gauge
Where trains encounter a different gauge, such as at the borders between Spain and France or between Russia and China, the traditional solution has been transloading (often called transshipment in discussions of break of gauge), that is, the transfer of passengers and freight to cars on the other system. When transloading from one gauge to another, often the quantities of rolling stock are unbalanced between the two systems, leading to more idle rolling stock on one system than the other.
Bogie exchange and variable gauge
One common method to avoid transshipment is to build cars to the smaller of the two systems' loading gauges with bogies that are easily removed and replaced with other bogies at an interchange location on the border. This takes a few minutes per car, but is quicker than transshipment of goods.
A more modern and sophisticated method is to have multigauge bogies with wheelsets whose wheels can be moved inwards and outwards. Normally they are locked in place, but special equipment at the border unloads and unlocks the wheels and pushes them inward or outward to the new gauge, relocking and reloading the wheels when done. This is done as the train moves slowly over the special equipment.
Dual gauge and track gauge conversion
In some cases, breaks of gauge are avoided by installing dual-gauge track, either permanently or as part of a changeover process to a single gauge.
Piggyback operation
One method of achieving interoperability between
Transporter wagons are most commonly used to transport narrow-gauge stock along standard-gauge lines.
At the
More rarely, standard-gauge vehicles are carried over narrow-gauge tracks using adaptor vehicles; examples include the Rollbocke transporter wagon arrangements in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic, and the milk transporter wagons of the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway in England.
As of 2010[update], Japan is developing the Train on Train piggyback concept.
Containerisation
The internationally widespread use of standard intermodal containers since the 1960s has made break of gauge less of a problem, since containers can be efficiently transferred from one mode or train to another by specialized cranes.
Greater efficiency is achieved when the lengths of the wagons on each gauge are the same, so that the containers can be transferred from one train to the other with no longitudinal movement. The speed of the transfer depends, among other factors, on how many cranes can operate simultaneously at the transfer location.
Container cranes are relatively portable, so that if the break of gauge transshipment hub changes from time to time, the cranes can be moved around as required.
For example, when containers are shipped by a "direct train" from China to Europe, it is only containers, and not the railcars, which move from China's railway network to that of Kazakhstan. At the
Types
Minor breaks of gauge
Wherever there are narrow-gauge lines that connect with a standard-gauge line, there is technically a break of gauge. If the amount of traffic transferred between lines is small, this might be a small inconvenience only. In Austria and Switzerland there are numerous breaks-of-gauge between standard-gauge main lines and narrow-gauge railways.
Many internal Swiss railways that operate in the more mountainous regions are 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) Through running of standard-gauge trains on rack sections would not be possible, but dual-gauge track exists in many places where the gradient is relatively flat to carry standard- and metre-gauge stock. There are also some 800-mm-gauge railways which are entirely rack operated.
The effects of a minor break of gauge can be minimized by placing it at the point where a cargo must be removed from cars anyway. An example of this is the
Nominal breaks of gauge
The line between Finland and Russia has a nominal break of gauge; Finnish gauge is
The
A nominal break of gauge with
Other types of breaks
A large railway may have main lines with heavy tracks, and branch lines with light track. Light locomotives and rolling stock can operate on all lines, but heavy locomotives and rolling stock can only operate on heavy track. Heavy rolling stock might be able to operate on lighter track at reduced speed. Light track can be upgraded to heavy track by installing heavy rails, etc., and this can be done without changing the track gauge.
Gauge conversions
Gauge orphan
When a main line is converted to a different gauge, branch lines can be cut off and made relatively useless, at least for freight trains, until they too are converted to the new gauge. These severed branches can be called gauge orphans.
Gauge outreach
The opposite of a gauge orphan is a line of one gauge which reaches into the territory composed mainly of another gauge. Examples include five 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad-gauge lines from Victoria, Australia, which crossed the border into otherwise standard-gauge New South Wales. Similarly, the standard-gauge line from Albury to Melbourne in 1962 which eliminated most transshipment at Albury, especially the need for passengers to change trains in the middle of the night. The standard-gauge outreach from Kalgoorlie to Perth partly replaced the original 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow-gauge line, and partly rebuilt that line with better curves and gradients as double-track dual gauge. Because of lack of space at the main Perth station, standard-gauge passenger trains terminate three stations short at East Perth.
Three Russian broad-gauge lines reach out from Ukraine, one (the
In 1994, the Rail Baltica proposal emerged to build a 728 km (452 mi) north–south standard-gauge line to link European railways from Poland via Kaunas, Lithuania, and Riga, Latvia, to Tallinn, Estonia.[10] The first stage, connecting Lithuanian-Polish border to Kaunas, was completed in 2015.
A standard-gauge line, extending from Belarusian-Polish border to Hrodna, is used for passenger connections to Białystok, Warsaw and Kraków. A standard-gauge line from Polish-Ukrainian border to Lviv is planned.[11]
Other issues
While track gauge is the most important factor preventing through running between adjacent systems, other issues can also be a hindrance, including
Examples
Europe
United Kingdom
- 7 ft 1⁄4 in(2,140 mm) systems.
- 1864 – Yeovil
5 foot and Russian gauge meeting standard gauge
- versus Former Soviet Union countries: Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova (1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)). Night trains are common, and they are often bogie-exchanged.
- Finland (1,524 mm (5 ft)) and Sweden (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)), between Tornio and Haparanda via a short dual gauge bridge. Freight is generally transloaded. No passenger trains. There is also a SeaRail train ferry (with 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) on board) linking Turku, Finland with Stockholm, Sweden;[12] the Turku terminal handles both gauges.[13]
- Bulgaria (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) railroad ferries to Ukraine, Russia and Georgia (1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in))
- Germany (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)) railroad ferries (from Sassnitz with 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) on board) to Russia and Baltic States and to Finland (also from Travemünde with 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) on board).
- Turkey and Iran versus Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan
- While breaks of gauge are generally located near borders, the Rail gauge in Slovakia.
- The historically first break of gauge between Russian and standard gauge was built in 1861 as dual gauge between the border stations of Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia and part of the German Empire (now Chernyshevskoye Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), and Kybartai, then Russia, now Lithuania.
- The "1520 Strategic Partnership" was established[when?] to harmonise the gauges of Europe and Asia.[15]
Iberian gauge meeting standard gauge
- France (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and Spain (1,668 mm or 5 ft 5+21⁄32 in), for example at Cerbère (FR) – Portbou (ES); Hendaye (FR) – Irun (ES) and Latour-de-Carol (FR)[note 1] – Puigcerdà (ES). From 2010 the Spanish high-speed network (1,435 mm or 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) was connected to the French railways without a break of gauge.
The earliest working example of the
Local narrow-gauge lines meeting mainlines
- Switzerland, see "Minor breaks of gauge" section above.
- The Harzer Schmalspurbahn took over a standard-gauge line from Deutsche Bahn when the latter had no more use for it and regauged it to meter gauge to prevent the problems of break of gauge. Nonetheless, a break of gauge (and a change of train operator) still occurs at the point where that line connects to the rest of the DB network. DB itself has no break of gauge problems as the only non-standard-gauge railway it operates is on the island of Wangerooge without any train connection to the mainland.
North America
The
- A break of gauge, 3 ft (914 mm) to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm), between Guatemala and Mexico is currently[when?] closed.
- In Antonito, Colorado, there is a break between the standard-gauge Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and the narrow-gauge Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, billed as the Toltec Gorge Limited.
- BART in the San Francisco Bay Area has a cross-platform interchange between the electrified 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad-gauge Yellow Line and non-electrified standard gauge eBART at a transfer platform east of Pittsburg/Bay Point station. The eBART system is designed to allow the new trackage to be electrified and regauged for BART mainline trains at a later date.[17]
- 69th Street Transportation Center in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania is a break of gauge between the 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm) Market–Frankford Line and SEPTA Routes 101 and 102, and the standard gauge Norristown High Speed Line.
South America
- Argentina and Chile both use 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad-gauge tracks, but the link railway uses 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) narrow gauge with rack railway sections. There are two break-of-gauge stations, one at Los Andes, Chile, and the other at Mendoza, Argentina.
- In 2022, Brazil has 22,539 km of lines in 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre-gauge; 7,432 km in 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad-gauge and 514 km in mixed gauge of both 1,000 mm and 1,600 mm.[18]
- A break of gauge exists between Brazil, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in).
- A break of gauge exists between Uruguay and Brazil, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) at Santana do Livramento.
Asia
China
Iran
Japan
All high-speed "Shinkansen" routes in Japan have been built as standard-gauge lines. A few routes, known as "Super Tokkyū", have been planned as narrow-gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), and the conventional (non-high-speed) is mostly narrow-gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), so there are some breaks of gauge and dual gauge is used in some places. Private railways often use other gauges.
While most of the Japanese urban rail/metro lines use 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) rail gauge, a considerable number of lines (including all lines of the Osaka Metro) are still using their own different gauges including 762 mm (2 ft 6 in), 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in), and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in).[23]
In 2010, Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) started working[needs update] on a transporter train by trainload concept called "Train on Train" to carry narrow-gauge freight trains at faster speeds on standard-gauge flatcars. The Seikan Tunnel has been converted by JR Hokkaido to dual gauge to accommodate the Hokkaido Shinkansen.[citation needed]
An experimental program for a variable gauge "Gauge Change Train" started in 1998 as a means to allow through services from high-speed standard-gauge Shinkansen lines to narrow-gauge regional lines. Its first deployment was expected to be the Kyushu Shinkansen Nagasaki route. However, the program was cancelled in 2008.[24]
North Korea
The
Sakhalin
In the 20th century, railroads on the entire Sakhalin used the same 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge as Japan, as part of it was under Japan's control when railway construction began. One stretch of rail that used 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow gauge was converted to match the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow gauge after Russia took control of it.
Starting from the 1970s, a train ferry service was provided to connect Sakhalin and the Russia mainland, requiring bogie exchange on wagons to allow operation on the Russian mainland 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) broad gauge.
In 2003, the Russian government started to convert the entire network to dual gauge with 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in). Work is 70% done as of 2016, and is expected to be complete by 2018. The entire island's rolling stock is expected to be replaced by 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) rolling stock by 2020, thus eliminating the break of gauge between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland.[28]
Taiwan
Like Japan, rail transport in Taiwan uses the 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge for the majority of its railway network, but 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge for its high-speed rail; however, gauge differences are less of a problem as Taiwan High Speed Rail generally uses separate rolling stock and its own separate railway, and at most locations runs on routes kilometres away from the conventional Taiwan Railways Administration railway network.
Africa
- Rail lines linked by ferries on convenient rivers or lakes. See train ferries.
- Dar es Salaam is one of the few places in Africa where different gauges actually meet.
- Kidatu in Tanzania has a container transshipment facility to move freight containers between TAZARA 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) and Tanzania Railways Corporation trains 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
- D. R. Congo originally had both 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) and 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) lines, but when these lines met in the 1950s, the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) line was converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).
- In the rest of Africa, railways of different gauges in adjacent countries often do not actually meet, so there is no actual break of gauge.
Australia
Origins of Australia's multi-gauge muddle
In 1845, the
South Australia and New South Wales[note 3] then agreed to adopt the 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) gauge: South Australia in 1847[31][32] and New South Wales in 1848.[32]
However, in 1850, New South Wales decided to change to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), or
There followed years of nationally uncoordinated railway construction designed not to serve the needs of the nation but the needs of the railways' parent colonies. They made their gauge choices in accordance with their perception of their own economic and geographical circumstances and to buttress, if not promote, their individual identities as colonies.[34]
It was to be 90 years before a national investigation of standardisation of gauges was undertaken, in 1945.[35] Progress after that was still very slow, largely confined to linking all mainland capital cities with standard-gauge lines – achieved only in 1982.[36]
The American writer, Mark Twain, in 1879 summed up his experience of changing trains at Albury on a journey to Melbourne:[29]
Now comes a singular thing: the oddest thing, the strangest thing, the most baffling and unaccountable marvel that Australasia can show. At the frontier between New South Wales and Victoria our multitude of passengers were routed out of their snug beds by lantern-light in the morning in the biting-cold of a high altitude to change cars on a road that has no break in it from Sydney to Melbourne! Think of the paralysis of intellect that gave that idea birth; imagine the boulder it emerged from on some petrified legislator's shoulders.
The greatest number of break-of-gauge stations was in South Australia. There, 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) and 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) lines met, both at the time of their introduction and – at different places – of their gradual transition to standardisation, first to broad gauge and then to standard gauge. At various times these stations were:[37]
- Hamley Bridge
- Terowie
- Peterborough
- Gladstone
- three stations at various times at Port Pirie
- Port Augusta
- Marree
- Wolseley
- Mount Gambier.
Snapshot of Australian gauges, 2021
In broad terms,[note 4] Australia's railway gauges were as follows in 2020:
- Queensland: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), except for a standard gauge line from Brisbane to the New South Wales border; also several thousand kilometres of 610 mm (2 ft) lightweight trackage for transport of sugar cane
- New South Wales: entirely 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), except the Deniliquin, Tocumwal, and the disused Moulamein lines, which are on 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge, and run from Victoria into the state.
- and several others.
- South Australia: 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) in the Adelaide suburban area; standard gauge lines to Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory; one 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) line carrying gypsum in the far west and others carrying iron ore to Whyalla
- Western Australia: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in), except for a standard gauge line from Perth to the South Australian border and, branching from it at Kalgoorlie, lines south to Esperance and north to Leonora; heavy rail lines in the north (Pilbara) transporting iron ore to port
- Tasmania: 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in).
New Zealand
New Zealand originally had small lengths of lines of 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) and 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), but quickly converted all to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), which better suited the sparsely populated and mountainous country.
Notes
- metre gauge on the Ligne de Cerdagne line to Villefranche-de-Conflent.
- ^ That is, South Australia.
- ^ Victoria had not yet become a separate colony from New South Wales; the colonies would not federate until 1901.
- SteamRanger (1,600 mm(5 ft 3 in)).
References
- ^ a b c Rolt 1989.
- ^ "Piggyback picture". Archived from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
- ^ "Flinders Ranges Research".
- ^ Gray, Adrian (Winter 1994). "G. W. R. Slate Tram Transporter Wagons". British Railway Journal (50): 17–24.
- ^ Shepard, Wade (January 28, 2016), "Why The China-Europe 'Silk Road' Rail Network Is Growing Fast", Forbes
- ^ See satellite views of Altynkol railway station using coordinates in that article.
- ^ "enlarged map". Retrieved February 19, 2011.
- ^ a b "Railway Gazette: Broad gauge to Wien is feasible, says study". Retrieved December 21, 2010.
- ^ Fender, Keith (May 6, 2021). "Austrian government will not support broad gauge line". International Railway Journal. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ").
- ^ Zasiadko, Mykola (November 28, 2019). "Ukraine plans dual gauge railway to EU". RailTech.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ^ SeaRail ferry Archived December 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2010-03-18
- ^ "SeaRail Turku dual-gauge terminal". Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
- ^ "Railways in Slovakia".
- ").
- ^ "Break of gauge device pleases". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. July 16, 1951. p. 5. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
- ^ Gary Richards, Gary Richards (April 4, 2014). "Roadshow: eBART trains along Highway 4 could be running in 2017". Contra Costa Times. MNG Corporate. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
- S2CID 259725182.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Lu, Hua (陆华); Guo, Weina (郭薇娜) (April 24, 2015), 昆明铁路局:国际铁路联运开启云南货运新篇章 (Kunming Railway Bureau: An international railway link opens a new chapter in Yunnan's freigh transportation)
- ^ The length of Vietnam railway network Archived April 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Trans-Kazakhstan link will complete standard-gauge transcontinental artery". Railway Gazette. August 1, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
- ^ Stubbs, John (January 1, 2007). "Closing the gap from Bam to Zahedan". Railway Gazette International. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 12, 2016. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "新幹線のFGT導入を断念". Reuters (in Japanese). August 24, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ "북한지역정보넷".
- ^ "라진-하산(러시아) 철도, 10월 중순 첫 시험운행". news.naver.com.
- ^ "North Korea: Russian diplomats leave by hand-pushed trolley". BBC News. February 26, 2021.
- ^ "Новости - Дальневосточный федеральный округ - interfax-russia.ru". www.interfax-russia.ru. May 30, 2016.
- ^ a b Twain, Mark (2020). "Following the Equator". The Literature Network. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "The proposed railroad". The South Australian. Vol. VIII, no. 686. (Original, Adelaide. Digital reproduction, Canberra: National Library of Australia – Trove digital newspaper archive. December 12, 1845. p. 3. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Proceedings of the Legislative Council". The South Australian. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. October 8, 1847. p. 3. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
- ^ a b "Local Intelligence". Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer. National Library of Australia. December 1, 1849. p. 2. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
- ^ "Railway Papers". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. August 28, 1851. p. 3. Retrieved November 27, 2011.
- . Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Report into the Standardisation of Australia’s Rail Gauges, Sir Harold Clapp, 1945. National Archives of Australia: series A5954, item 717/2
- ^ Vincent, Graham (2013). "South Australia's mixed gauge muddle" (PDF). National Railway Museum [South Australia]. National Railway Museum. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
- ^ "National rail map". Australian rail maps. 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
Bibliography
- Rolt, L. T. C. (1989) [1957]. Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Prentice Hall Press. ISBN 978-0-582-10744-1.
See also
- Erie Gauge War
- Eurasian Land Bridge
- Gauntlet track
- Janes World Railways has maps that generally show breaks-of-gauge.
- Piggyback (transportation)[1][2]
- Ramsey car-transfer apparatus
- Track gauge conversion
- Variable gauge axles
- INTERGAUGEa form of VGA
- SUW 2000 a form of VGA
External links
- Jane's World Railways (hard copy)
- Transport and Telecommunication: The operation of the gauge changing facility of the new railway line Rail Baltica[permanent dead link], Jonas Jonaitis, Vol.7, No 1, 2006