Indian gauge is a
broad track gauge of , used in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, western
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, and on
BART
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
In North America, it is called Indian Gauge, Provincial, Portland, or Texas gauge. In Argentina and Chile, it is known as "trocha ancha" (Spanish for ''broad gauge''). In the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
it is simply known as "broad gauge". Elsewhere it is known as Indian gauge. It is the widest gauge in regular passenger use anywhere in the world.
Asia
India
In
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, the initial freight railway lines were built using
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
. In the 1850s, the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway
The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...
adopted the gauge of for the first passenger railway in India between
Bori Bunder
Bori Bunder (also known as Bori Bandar) is an area along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India.
Background
This place was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the local language, 'Bori' mean sack and 'Bandar' ...
and
Thane
Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
.
[Indian Railways: Some Fascinating Facts]
“Train Atlas”
''Train Atlas'', Indian Railways, 2003 This was then adopted as the standard for the nationwide network.
Indian Railways
Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
today predominantly operates on broad gauge. Most of the metre gauge and narrow gauge railways have been converted to broad gauge. Small stretches of the network that remain on metre and narrow gauges are also
being converted to broad gauge.
Rapid transit lines
HouTran was a public transportation company that served the Houston area. While its last iteration was publicly owned by the City of Houston, it was privately owned throughout the vast majority of its existence. Throughout several name changes a ...
are mostly on standard gauge, although some initial lines use broad gauge.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh Railways uses a mix of broad gauge and
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
. The broad gauge network is primarily located to the west of the
Jamuna River
The Jamuna River ( bn, যমুনা ''Jomuna'') is one of the three main rivers of Bangladesh. It is the lower stream of the Brahmaputra River, which originates in Tibet as Yarlung Tsangpo, before flowing into India and then southwest into ...
, while the metre gauge network is primarily located to its east. The
Jamuna Bridge
Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...
is a mixed-use bridge that contains a
dual gauge
In railway engineering, "gauge" is the transverse distance between the inner surfaces of the heads of two rails, which for the vast majority of railway lines is the number of rails in place. However, it is sometimes necessary for track to c ...
connection across the river linking both networks.
Nepal
In Nepal, all services currently operate on broad gauge only.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, all services currently operate on broad gauge only.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, all services currently operate on broad gauge only.
Europe
United Kingdom
The broad gauge was first used in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
for two short, isolated lines, the
Dundee and Arbroath Railway
The Dundee and Arbroath Railway was an early railway in Scotland. It opened in 1838, and used the unusual track gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). In 1848 it changed to standard gauge and connected to the emerging Scottish railway network ...
(1836-1847) and the
Arbroath and Forfar Railway
The Arbroath and Forfar Railway was a railway that connected Forfar with the port town of Arbroath, in Scotland.
It opened in 1838–1839 and it was successful in making an operating profit, but it was always desperately short of capital. It u ...
(1838-). Both the lines were subsequently
converted to
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
.
Spain and Portugal
The
Iberian-gauge railways
Iberian gauge ( es, ancho ibérico, trocha ibérica, pt, bitola ibérica) is a track gauge of , most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal. This is the second-widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world. The Indian gauge, , ...
, that service much of Spain and Portugal, have a track gauge of , just different from . Used rolling stock from Iberia has been employed on broad-gauge lines in Argentina and Chile.
North America
Canada
Canada became the first British colony, in the 1850s, to use broad gauge. It was known as the "Provincial gauge" in Canada.
The earliest railways in Canada, including the 1836
Champlain and St. Lawrence and 1847
Montreal and Lachine Railway
The Montreal and Lachine Railroad opened on November 19, 1847, with service between Bonaventure Station in Montreal and the St. Lawrence River in Lachine. Built to bypass the Lachine Rapids, it was 12 km long. The railway merged with the Lak ...
however, were built to .
[Omer Lavallee]
"The Rise and Fall of the Provincial Gauge"
''Canadian Rail'', February 1963, pp. 22-37
The
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
which operated in several Canadian provinces (
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) and American states (
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
,
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
,
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, and
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
) used it, but was
changed to standard gauge in 1873. The Grand Trunk Railway operated from headquarters in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Quebec, although corporate headquarters were in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Can ...
which operated in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine also used it but was converted in 1873.
There is a longstanding rumour that the Provincial gauge was selected specifically to create a
break-of-gauge
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 ...
with US railways, the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
still being a fresh memory. However, there is little supporting evidence for this, and this story appears to be traced to a single claim from the late 1800s.
[
]
United States
The Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...
system is the only operating railroad in the United States to use broad gauge, with of double tracked routes. The original engineers chose the wide gauge for its "great stability and smoother riding qualities" and intended to make a state-of-the-art system for other municipalities to emulate. The use of broad gauge rails was one of many unconventional design elements included in its design which, in addition to its unusual gauge, also used flat-edge rail, rather than typical rail that angles slightly inward (although the shape of BART wheels and rail has been modified since then). This has complicated maintenance of the system, as it requires custom wheelsets, brake systems, and track maintenance vehicles.
The New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad
The New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad (NOO&GW) was chartered in 1852. Construction began at Algiers, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, in late 1852. By 1857, the track had reached Brashear (now Morgan City) on Berwic ...
(NOO&GW) used broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
until 1872, and the Texas and New Orleans Railroad
The Texas and New Orleans Railroad was a railroad in Texas and Louisiana. It operated of railroad in 1934; by 1961, remained when it merged with parent company Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific.
Location
The Morgan's Louisiana and ...
used broad gauge ("Texas gauge") until 1876. The Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
predecessor St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Can ...
which operated in Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine also used broad gauge ("Canadian gauge", "Provincial gauge" or "Portland gauge") but was converted in 1873. Several Maine railroads connected to the Grand Trunk Railway shared its "Portland Gauge". The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad and the Buckfield Branch Railroad were later consolidated as the Maine Central Railroad
The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to w ...
which converted to standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
in 1871.
John A. Poor's chief engineer Alvin C. Morton compiled the following advantages of "Portland Gauge" for Maine railways in 1847:
* Frost heaves (swelling of wet soil upon freezing) produce an uneven running surface causing an irregular rocking motion as trains moved past. A wider wheelbase offered a steadier ride with less wear on the machinery and roadbed.
* Wider cars offered more room for passengers and cargo. Train length would be reduced for cars carrying the same amount of cargo. Shorter trains would lessen the effects of side winds, and permit more efficient application of power.
* Wide gauge locomotives offered more room to place reciprocating machinery inside, rather than outside the driving wheels. Reciprocating machinery was a source of vibration before mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...
encompassed a good understanding of dynamics; and keeping such vibration close to the center of mass reduced the angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syst ...
causing rocking.
* Wider fireboxes and boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
s allowed more powerful locomotives. The alternative of longer boilers held the disadvantage of poor firebox draft through the increased frictional resistance of longer boiler tubes.
* More powerful locomotives carrying fewer, larger cars would have reduced manpower requirement for engine crews and shop personnel.
* For locomotives of equal power, fuel consumption increased as gauge decreased, especially in colder outside temperatures.
* More powerful wide gauge locomotives would be more capable for plowing snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
; and thereby provide more reliable winter service.
* Several gauges were in widespread use, and none had yet come into clear dominance.
* Freight transfer was preferable to exchange of cars between railways because unowned cars were abused on foreign railways.
* The Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
system feeding the seaport of Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
offered little need for gauge transfer prior to loading on export shipping.
* Potential advantages of freight transfer to the standard gauge railroad from Portland to Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
seemed insignificant as long as competitive rates were available for transport on steamships between the two ports.
* The majority of Canadian freight anticipated to be carried over rail lines to Portland was heavy and bulky in comparison to its value, and must be transported cheaply in large quantities to maintain profitability for producers and transporters.
South America
Argentina
The national railway network is predominantly on broad gauge.
Chile
Most links of broad gauge railways are in the center-south of the country. Only a few lines of the Ferrocarril del Sur (Southern Railroad Network) were or , the notable exceptions being one of the few active links: the Ramal Talca-Constitución branch and the Metro de Santiago
The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...
. On the contrary, just a few branches of the FCN (Ferrocarril del Norte) were broad gauge, most notably the Mapocho-Puerto mainline between Santiago and Valparaiso, the Santiago–Valparaíso railway line
The Santiago–Valparaíso railway is a railway line linking the Chilean capital city Santiago with the port city of Valparaíso.
History
The existing rail line between Santiago and Valparaíso was opened in 1863, and is long, single-track and ...
. This link was directly connected to the southern railroad network using the Matucana tunnel that connected Mapocho and the Central Station in Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
. The Transandine Railway
The Transandine Railway ( es, Ferrocarril Trasandino) was a combined rack ( Abt system) and adhesion railway which operated from Mendoza in Argentina, across the Andes mountain range via the Uspallata Pass, to Santa Rosa de Los Andes in Chi ...
that connected both Argentinean and Chilean broad gauge networks through the Uspallata pass in the Andes mountains was actually a narrow gauge link.
Similar gauges and compatibility
The Iberian gauge
Iberian gauge ( es, ancho ibérico, trocha ibérica, pt, bitola ibérica) is a track gauge of , most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal. This is the second-widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world. The Indian gauge, , ...
() is closely similar to the Indian gauge, with only difference, and allows compatibility with the rolling stock. For example, in recent years Chile and Argentina have bought second hand Spanish/Portuguese Iberian-gauge rolling stock. 1,668 mm trains can run on 1,676 mm gauge without adaptation, but for better stability in high-speed running a wheelset replacement may be required (for example, Russian-Finnish train Allegro
Allegro may refer to:
Common meanings
* Allegro (music), a tempo marking indicate to play fast, quickly and bright
* Allegro (ballet), brisk and lively movement
Artistic works
* L'Allegro (1645), a poem by John Milton
* ''Allegro'' (Satie), an ...
has gauge, intermediate between Russian and Finnish ). Backward compatibility—1,676 mm trains on 1,668 mm gauge—is possible, but no examples and data exist. Due to the narrower gauge, a strong wear of wheelsets may occur without replacement.
Operational railways
Closed railways
See also
*Broad-gauge railway
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
*Heritage railway
A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
*List of track gauges
This list presents an overview of railway track gauges by size. A gauge is measured between the inner faces of the rails.
Track gauges by size
Minimum and ridable miniature railways
For ridable miniature railways and minimum gauge railways, t ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:5 ft 6 in gauge railway
Track gauges by name