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With railways, a break of gauge occurs where a line of one
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
(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 The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
generally cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, leading to
passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. Th ...
s having to change trains and
freight Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including tran ...
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. (including rollbocks, transporter wagons, dual gauge, and even
containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pr ...
or
variable gauge A variable gauge system allows railway vehicles in a train to travel across a break of gauge between two railway networks with different track gauges. For through operation, a train must be equipped with special bogies holding variable gauge whe ...
axles), but they were not implemented at the height of the
Gauge War The Gauge War (or Gauge Wars) was a figurative war of intense competition to control new territory, waged between expanding railway companies in Great Britain in the nineteenth century. The contest for which track gauge should become the standa ...
in the 1840s, which resulted in a regular need for transloading.
L. T. C. Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt (usually abbreviated to Tom Rolt or L. T. C. Rolt) (11 February 1910 – 9 May 1974) was a prolific English writer and the biographer of major civil engineering figures including Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Thomas Tel ...
's biography of
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
(key proponent of the broad gauge for the Great Western Railway) remarks on the apparent mysteriousness of this lack of implementation, but a likely explanation is that the combatants at the time were likely primarily interested in winning the Gauge War and setting a standard that benefited their commercial interests. 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 examples section below for a range of international examples of different types, including a break of gauge in Gloucester, which was the earliest significant break of gauge between the and systems, and the first break of gauge between Russian and standard gauge built in 1861 between the border stations of Eydtkuhnen (then East Prussia, now Russia) and
Kybartai Kybartai (; russian: Кибартай) is a city in Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. History Kybartai was founded under the reign of Sigismund I the Old ...
(then Russia, now Lithuania).


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 Transloading, also known as cross-docking, is the process of transferring a shipment from one mode of transportation to another. It is most commonly employed when one mode cannot be used for the entire trip, such as when goods must be shipped in ...
( 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 Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...
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
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
of different gauges is to
piggyback Piggyback, piggy-back, or piggybacking may mean: Transport * Piggyback (transportation), something that is riding on the back of something else Art, entertainment, and media *Splash cymbal piggybacking, mounting a cymbal on top of an already ...
stock of one gauge on special transporter wagons or even ordinary flat wagons fitted with rails. This enables rolling stock to reach workshops and other lines of the same gauge to which they are not otherwise connected.
Piggyback Piggyback, piggy-back, or piggybacking may mean: Transport * Piggyback (transportation), something that is riding on the back of something else Art, entertainment, and media *Splash cymbal piggybacking, mounting a cymbal on top of an already ...
operation by the trainload occurred as a temporary measure between
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state cap ...
and Marree during
gauge conversion Gauge conversion is the changing of one railway track gauge (the distance between the running rails) to another. Sleepers If tracks are converted to a narrower gauge, the existing sleepers (ties) may be used. However, replacement is required i ...
work in the 1950s to bypass steep gradients and
washaways A washaway is a particular kind of landslide that can affect man-made structures such as cuttings, embankments and bridges. They are thus a hazard to railways and road traffic. Overview The biggest danger with washaways is that they may be d ...
in the Flinders Ranges. Narrow-gauge railways were favoured in the underground slate quarries of North Wales, as tunnels could be smaller. The
Padarn Railway The Padarn Railway was a narrow gauge railway in North Wales, built to the unusual gauge of . It carried slate from Dinorwic Quarry to Port Dinorwic. The line opened on 3 March 1843, replacing the Dinorwic Railway. It initially used horses ...
operated transporter wagons on their gauge railway, each carrying four slate trams. When the Great Western Railway acquired one of the narrow-gauge lines in
Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,000 ...
, it deployed a similar type of transporter wagon to allow continued use of the quarries' existing slate wagons. Transporter wagons are most commonly used to transport narrow-gauge stock along standard-gauge lines. At the
Guinness brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery i ...
in Dublin there used to be internal narrow gauge and gauge (standard gauge for Ireland), and to avoid the need for steam locomotives of both gauges the narrow-gauge engines were provided with standard-gauge converter wagons (named "haulage trucks"). The narrow-gauge steam locomotive was lowered into the haulage truck using a gantry, and its wheels rested on rollers, which in turn drove the haulage wagon wheels via a 3:1 reduction gear. Several of these locomotives survived into preservation, including locomotive No23 complete with haulage wagon and lifting gantry preserved at Brockham museum in 1966, and now at the
Amberley Museum Railway The Amberley Museum Railway is a narrow gauge railway based at Amberley Museum, Amberley, West Sussex. It has a varied collection of engines and rolling stock ranging from gauge to gauge. It operates passenger trains at the museum using a ...
. 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 The Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) was a narrow gauge railway in Staffordshire, England that operated between 1904 and 1934. The line mainly carried milk from dairies in the region, acting as a feeder to the system. It also ...
in England. , Japan is developing the
Train on Train __NOTOC__ is a concept for piggybacking (that is, carrying narrow-gauge wagons on broader-gauge flatwagons) by the trainload rather than one wagon at a time. The need arose when Japan's Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) was planning f ...
piggyback concept.


Containerisation

The internationally widespread use of standard
intermodal containers An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, is a large standardized shipping container, designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – from ship ...
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 Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname ...
. 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.
Fork lift In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods eit ...
trucks can also be used. 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
Altynkol railway station Altynkol Railway Station (russian: Станция Алтынколь) is located in Khorgas, Panfilov District, Almaty Region, Kazakhstan, the border of China and Kazakhstan, a spur line railway station of Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. The Chinese st ...
near the border at
Khorgos Khorgas, officially known as KorgasThe official spelling according to , (Beijing, ''SinoMaps Press'' 1997); ( zh, s=霍尔果斯, t=霍爾果斯, p=Huò'ěrguǒsī; kk, قورعاس, Qorǵas), also known as ''Chorgos'', ''Gorgos'', ''Horgos' ...
, two trains (the Chinese one and the Kazakh one) are placed side by side at parallel tracks, while gantry cranes move the containers from one train to the other in as short a time as 47 minutes.


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 , and most are equipped with
rack Rack or racks may refer to: Storage and installation * Amp rack, short for amplifier rack, a piece of furniture in which amplifiers are mounted * Bicycle rack, a frame for storing bicycles when not in use * Bustle rack, a type of storage bin ...
assistance to deal with the relatively steep gradients encountered. 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
East Broad Top Railroad The East Broad Top Railroad (EBT) is a narrow gauge historic and heritage railroad headquartered in Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania. Operating from 1871 to 1956, it is one of the nation's oldest and best-preserved narrow-gauge railroads ...
in the US, which had a coal wash and preparation plant at its break of gauge in
Mount Union, Pennsylvania Mount Union is a borough in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately southeast of Altoona and southeast of Huntingdon, on the Juniata River. In the vicinity are found bituminous coal, ganister rock, fire clay, and some ti ...
. The coal was unloaded from narrow-gauge cars of the EBTR, and after processing was loaded into standard-gauge cars of the
Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
.


Nominal breaks of gauge

The line between Finland and Russia has a nominal break of gauge; Finnish gauge is whereas Russian gauge is ; the present Russian gauge is actually a redefinition of the older . This does not usually prevent through-running - service running across both gauges exists in the form of the
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 ...
high-speed service between Helsinki and St. Petersburg. The nominal difference is generally within operating tolerances and does not cause problems or delays. 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 actually three slightly different gauges: in Spain, in Portugal, and the newer, redefined . Through-running is done with vehicles having a gauge within certain tolerances.
Indian gauge , a broad gauge, is the track gauge used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in San Francisco, United States. In North America, it is called Indian Gauge, Provincial, Portland, or Texas gauge. In Arge ...
, , is also compatible with Iberian gauge, although there are no actual railway connections between the two. Despite this, old Spanish and Portuguese rolling stock have been reused in Argentina and Chile, both of which use Indian gauge. A nominal break of gauge with standard gauge exists as well: on the Hong Kong
MTR The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...
network, lines owned by MTR Corporation used before 2014. Newer lines and extensions use with nominal gauge break at Sheung Wan station and
Yau Ma Tei station Yau Ma Tei, formerly named Waterloo after Waterloo Road, is an MTR station located in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon. It is served by the and the . The station opened on 22 December 1979 and was renamed as Yau Ma Tei on 31 May 1985 along with Argyle ...
. is also employed on those owned by
KCR Corporation The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC; ) is a Hong Kong wholly government-owned railway and land asset manager. It was established in 1982 under the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation Ordinance for the purposes of operating the Kowloon– ...
, despite the lack of physical connections between the two networks.


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 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 Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
partly replaced the original 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 one station short at
East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
. Three Russian broad-gauge lines reach out from Ukraine, one (the Uzhhorod–Košice line) into Slovakia to carry minerals; another (the Metallurgy Line) into Poland to carry heavy iron ore and steel products without the need for transshipment as would be the case if there were a break of gauge at the border. There were plans to extend the Slovak line to Vienna but these have been effectively killed by the Austrian government in 2021. The third one, from Polish-Ukrainian border to Przemyśl, is used for passenger connections to Lviv and Kiyv. In 1994, the
Rail Baltica Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunn ...
proposal emerged to build a north–south standard-gauge line to link European railways from Poland via Kaunas, Lithuania, and Riga, Latvia, to Tallinn, Estonia. 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.


Other issues

While track gauge is the most important factor preventing through running between adjacent systems, other issues can also be a hindrance, including
structure gauge A structure gauge, also called the minimum clearance outline, is a diagram or physical structure that sets limits to the extent that bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure can encroach on rail vehicles. It specifies the height and width of pl ...
, loading gauge, axleloads, couplings,
brakes A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction. Background ...
, electrification systems,
signalling In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
systems, multiple unit controls, rules and regulations, driver certification, righthand or lefthand running, repairs (how to make and pay for repairs while rolling stock is on other railway's territory) and language. The structure gauge, loading gauge and axleload problems are solved by simply using the smaller options for through running. The general solution is often to custom-build vehicles to fit all the standards to be encountered. Trains can be built to accept four voltages, to have dual signaling systems equipment, etc. All of these solutions, however, usually result in either more expensive trains or less comfort for passengers (e.g. through less room inside the train if it has a smaller loading gauge) or – in the case of freight railways – less room for cargo, making double stacking impossible or other negative effects.


Examples


Europe


United Kingdom

* Gloucester was the earliest significant break of gauge between the and systems. * 1864 – Yeovil


Russian gauge meeting western gauge

* Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania (). :versus Former Soviet Union countries: Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine,
Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
(). Night trains are common, and they are often bogie-exchanged. *Finland () and Sweden (), between
Tornio Tornio (; sv, Torneå; sme, Duortnus ; smn, Tuárnus) is a city and municipality in Lapland, Finland. The city forms a cross-border twin city together with Haparanda on the Swedish side. The municipality covers an area of , of which is ...
and Haparanda via a short dual gauge bridge. Freight is generally transloaded. No passenger trains. There is also a SeaRail
train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...
(with on board) linking
Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; 1 ...
, Finland with Stockholm, Sweden; the Turku terminal handles both gauges. *
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...
() railroad ferries to Ukraine, Russia and
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
() *Germany () railroad ferries (from Sassnitz with on board) to Russia and Baltic States and to Finland (also from Travemünde with on board). * Turkey and Iran versus
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
,
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
, Turkmenistan *While breaks of gauge are generally located near borders, the Uzhhorod – Košice line carrying iron ore from Ukraine extends into Slovakian territory to a steelworks near Košice an
there are plans to extend the line further west
to Vienna. See also 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 Chernyshevskoye (; , from 1938: ''Eydtkau''; ) is a settlement in Nesterovsky District in the eastern part of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, close to the border with Lithuania. Between Chernyshevskoye and Lithuanian Kybartai is an important 24- ...
Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia), and
Kybartai Kybartai (; russian: Кибартай) is a city in Marijampolė County, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis and is on the border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. History Kybartai was founded under the reign of Sigismund I the Old ...
, then Russia, now Lithuania. * The "1520 Strategic Partnership" was established to harmonise the gauges of Europe and Asia.


Iberian gauge meeting western gauge

*France () and Spain (), for example at
Cerbère Cerbère (; ca, Cervera de la Marenda) is a commune and railway town in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.Portbou Portbou () is a town in the Alt Empordà county, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. It has a population of people (). Portbou is located near the French border in the Costa Brava region, and frequently serves as a dropping off point f ...
(ES);
Hendaye Hendaye ( Basque: ''Hendaia'')HENDAIA
Irun (ES) and
Latour-de-Carol Latour-de-Carol (; ca, La Tor de Querol) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Localization Latour-de-Carol is located in the canton of Les Pyrénées catalanes and in the arrondissement of Prade ...
(FR)At
Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg station Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg (Catalan: La Tor de Querol-Enveig) or Latour-de-Carol is a railway station in Enveitg and Latour-de-Carol, Occitanie, France. It is the current terminus of three lines. France's SNCF operates TER (local) services on th ...
three lines meet, each with a different gauge:
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, ...
to Puigcerdà, Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, standard gauge with regional trains to Toulouse and night trains to Paris, and metre gauge on the
Ligne de Cerdagne The ''Ligne de Cerdagne'', usually referred to as ''Le Petit Train Jaune'' ( en, Little Yellow Train, ca, Tren Groc), is a gauge railway that runs from Villefranche-de-Conflent to Latour-de-Carol- Enveitg in the French Pyrenees. Construction ...
line to
Villefranche-de-Conflent Villefranche-de-Conflent (; ca, Vilafranca de Conflent) is historically a town in the Conflent region of Catalonia, and now a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Geography Villefranche-de-Conflent is located i ...
.
Puigcerdà Puigcerdà (; es, Puigcerdá) is the capital of the '' Catalan comarca'' of Cerdanya, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, northern Spain, near the Segre River and on the border with France (it abuts directly onto the French town of Bourg-Ma ...
(ES). From 2010 the Spanish high-speed network () was connected to the French railways without a break of gauge. The earliest working example of the axle-changing system at the French-Spain border in 1948 had the
axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...
s being changed at the rate of 8 wagons or 32 axles per hour.


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 United States of America had broad-, narrow-, and standard-gauge tracks in the 19th century, but is now almost entirely standard gauge. Narrow-gauge operations are generally confined to isolated rail systems, with a few notable exceptions. * A break of gauge, to , between Guatemala and Mexico is currently closed. * In
Antonito, Colorado Antonito is a Statutory Town located in Conejos County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 647 at the 2020 United States Census. History Antonito began life as a sheep herding camp known as San Antonio Junction, referring to its ...
, there is a break between the standard-gauge
Rio Grande Scenic Railroad The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of Colorado was a heritage railway that operated from 2006 to 2019 in and around the San Luis Valley as a subsidiary of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. The heritage railroad ceased operating excursions follow ...
and the narrow-gauge
Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad The Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, often abbreviated as the C&TSRR, is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Antonito, Colorado, and Chama, New Mexico, in the United States. The railroad is named for two geo ...
, billed as th
Toltec Gorge Limited
*
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 ''Barth ...
in the San Francisco Bay Area has a cross-platform interchange between the electrified broad-gauge and non-electrified standard gauge
eBART eBART (East Contra Costa County BART extension) is the project name for a hybrid rail (light rail with some features similar to commuter rail) branch line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in eastern Contra Costa County, California, ...
at a transfer platform east of
Pittsburg/Bay Point station Pittsburg/Bay Point station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Pittsburg, California, United States, adjacent to the community of Bay Point. It serves northern and eastern Contra Costa County, as well as the Sacramento–San Joaquin River ...
. The eBART system is designed to allow the new trackage to be electrified and regauged for BART mainline trains at a later date.


South America

*Argentina and Chile both use broad-gauge tracks, but the link railway uses narrow gauge with
rack railway A rack railway (also rack-and-pinion railway, cog railway, or cogwheel railway) is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with t ...
sections. There are two break-of-gauge stations, one at Los Andes, Chile, and the other at
Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...
. *A break of gauge exists between
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 ...
and Brazil, to . *A break of gauge exists between Uruguay and Brazil, to at
Santana do Livramento Santana do Livramento is a city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is located along the border with the city of Rivera, Uruguay, forming together an international city of almost 170,000 inhabitants. Santana do Livramento was founded on ...
.


Asia


China

China has a standard-gauge network; neighbouring countries Mongolia,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
and Kazakhstan use gauge, and Vietnam mostly uses ( metre gauge), so there are some breaks of gauge. See the
Trans-Manchurian Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...
(gauge changing at Zabaikalsk on the Russian side of the border), the
Trans-Mongolian Railway , map_name = , map_state = collapsed , embedded = The Trans-Mongolian Railway follows an ancient tea-caravan route from China to Russia and connects Ulan-Ude, on the Trans–Baikal ( Trans–Siberian) railway in R ...
and the Lanxin railway. The Yunnan–Vietnam Railway is narrow gauge, and is connected to standard-gauge tracks both in Kunming and in Hekou. The Nanning- Hanoi line is dual gauge in Vietnam as far as Hanoi. There is currently a break of gauge at
Dostyk Dostyk ( kk, Достық, ''Dostyq'') or Druzhba (russian: Дружба) is a small town in Kazakhstan's Almaty Region, on the border with Xinjiang, China. It is a port of entry (by highway and railroad) from China. The rail portion serves as ...
on the Kazakh border. Kazakhstan was planning to build an additional line using standard gauge, between Dostyk and Aktogay but the scheme was abandoned.


Iran

Iran, with its standard-gauge rail system, has a break of gauge with gauge at the borders with
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
and Turkmenistan, and also with
Pakistan's Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
5 ft 6 in gauge railway , a broad gauge, is the track gauge used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in San Francisco, United States. In North America, it is called Indian Gauge, Provincial, Portland, or Texas gauge. In Arge ...
at Zahedan. The break-of-gauge station at Zahedan was built outside the city, as the existing station was hemmed in by built-up areas.


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 , and the conventional (non-high-speed) is mostly narrow-gauge , 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 rail gauge, a considerable number of lines (including all lines of the
Osaka Metro The is a major rapid transit system in the Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan, operated by the Osaka Metro Company, Ltd. It serves the city of Osaka and the adjacent municipalities of Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi, Sakai, Suita, and Yao. O ...
) are still using their own different gauges including , , and . In 2010,
Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a sm ...
(JR Hokkaido) started working on a transporter train by trainload concept called "
Train on Train __NOTOC__ is a concept for piggybacking (that is, carrying narrow-gauge wagons on broader-gauge flatwagons) by the trainload rather than one wagon at a time. The need arose when Japan's Hokkaido Railway Company (JR Hokkaido) was planning f ...
" to carry narrow-gauge freight trains at faster speeds on standard-gauge flatcars. The
Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern is ...
has been converted by JR Hokkaido to dual gauge to accommodate the Hokkaido Shinkansen. An experimental program for a variable gauge "
Gauge Change Train The Gauge Change Train (GCT) or is the name given to a Japanese project started in 1994 to develop a high-speed train with variable gauge axles to allow inter-running between the Shinkansen network, and the narrow gauge regional rail network. T ...
" 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 The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed railway network. It is an extension of the San'yō Shinkansen from Honshu connecting the city of Fukuoka (Hakata Station) in the north of Japan's Kyushu Island to the city of Kagoshima ( Kagoshima-Chuo S ...
Nagasaki route. However, the program was cancelled in 2008.


North Korea

The North Korean rail system has some breaks of gauge. Several parts of the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line on the stretch between Wiyŏn and Hyesan Ch'ŏngnyŏn are dual gauged to allow connections to the Paektusan Rimch'ŏl Line and the
Samjiyŏn Line Samjiyŏn Line is the name of a railway line of the Korean State Railway in Ryanggang Province, North Korea, running from Wiyŏn on the Paektusan Ch'ŏngnyŏn Line to Motka. The name is applied both to the original narrow gauge line built in 1 ...
. Also, the line connecting to the
Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the eas ...
from
Rason Rason (formerly Rajin-Sŏnbong; ) is a North Korean special city and ice-free port in the Sea of Japan in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location of the Rason Special Economic Zo ...
to
Tumangang Tumangang-rodongjagu ( ko, 두만강로동자구) is a neighbourhood in Sonbong, Rason, North Korea, near the China–North Korea–Russia tripoint where the borders of the three countries converge. It is also the closest town in North Korea t ...
and the Korea-Russia Friendship Bridge is dual gauged for standard gauge and Russian gauge. Originally the dual gauge may have reached as far as Khasan, but as of 2021 the standard gauge track has been taken up on the Russian side of the bridge.


Sakhalin

In the 20th century, railroads on the entire Sakhalin used the same narrow gauge as Japan, as part of it was under Japan's control when railway construction began. One stretch of rail that used narrow gauge was converted to match the 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 broad gauge. In 2003, the Russian government started to convert the entire network to dual gauge with and . 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 rolling stock by 2020, thus eliminating the break of gauge between Sakhalin and the Russian mainland.


Taiwan

Like Japan,
rail transport in Taiwan Rail transport in Taiwan consists of (as of 2015) of railway networks. Though no longer as dominant as it once was, rail transport is an extremely important form of transportation in Taiwan due to high population density, especially along the de ...
uses the gauge for the majority of its railway network, but standard gauge for its high-speed rail; however, gauge differences are less of a problem as
Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) is the high-speed railway of Taiwan consisting of one line that runs approximately along the west coast, from the capital Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung. With construction and operations managed by a pri ...
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 A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...
. * Dar es Salaam is one of the few places in Africa where different gauges actually meet. *
Kidatu Kidatu is a town in central Tanzania, located in Kilombero District, Morogoro Region. The local population is about 3,300. The primary economic activity is the large Illovo sugar cane plantation and factory which produces of sugar per year. G ...
in Tanzania has a container transshipment facility to move freight containers between
TAZARA The Tazara Railway, also called the Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, is a railway in East Africa linking the port of Dar es Salaam in east Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province. The single-track railway is ...
and
Tanzania Railways Corporation The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is a state-owned enterprise that runs one of Tanzania's two main railway networks. When the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation was dissolved in 1977 and its assets divided between Kenya, Tanza ...
trains * D. R. Congo originally had both and lines, but when these lines met in the 1950s, the line was converted to . * 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 Australian South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
'' newspaper mentioned the convening of a Royal Commission in Britain "inquiring whether, in future private acts of parliament for the construction of railways, provision ought to be made for securing a uniform gauge, and whether ... to bring the railways already constructed, or in progress ... into uniformity". It continued, "Since the colonists are now moving the question of railroads, we direct their special attention to the following. A uniform gauge will be of the utmost importance to the internal traffic of the province;That is, South Australia. and the time to determine the proper and most convenient width of the rail, is at the commencement". South Australia and New South WalesVictoria had not yet become a separate colony from New South Wales; the colonies would not federate until 1901. then agreed to adopt the gauge:
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
in 1847 and New South Wales in 1848. However, in 1850, New South Wales decided to change to , or
Irish gauge Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad gauge railways. , they were extant in Australia, Brazil and Ireland. History 600 BC :The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved paved ...
. The change was approved by the British government, and South Australia agreed to follow suit. However, in 1853, New South Wales unilaterally reverted to the gauge. South Australia and
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...
, the latter now separated from New South Wales, protested about the broken agreement, to no avail. Because they had already invested in broad-gauge track, locomotives and rolling stock, they continued construction. 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. It was to be 90 years before a national investigation of standardisation of gauges was undertaken, in 1945. Progress after that was still very slow, largely confined to linking all mainland capital cities with standard-gauge lines – achieved only in 1982. The American writer, Mark Twain, in 1879 summed up his experience of changing trains at
Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – t ...
on a journey to Melbourne: The greatest number of break-of-gauge stations was in South Australia. There, and 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: *
Hamley Bridge Hamley Bridge is a community in South Australia located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction. Named by the government of the day, in honour of the Acting Governor of South Australia L ...
* Terowie *
Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...
*
Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-cons ...
*three stations at various times at Port Pirie *
Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a seaport, it is now a road traffic and railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about north of the state cap ...
* Marree * Wolseley *
Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital A ...
.


Snapshot of Australian gauges, 2021

In broad terms,Ignoring preserved railways and tramways, the most notable being Victoria's Puffing Billy Railway () and South Australia's
Pichi Richi Railway The Pichi Richi Railway is a narrow-gauge heritage railway in the southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia between Quorn and Port Augusta. For much of its length the line lies in the picturesque Pichi Richi Pass, where the line was complete ...
() and
SteamRanger The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is a long broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South Australian Division of the Australian Railw ...
().
Australia's railway gauges were as follows in 2020: * Queensland: , except for a standard gauge line from
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the Sou ...
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 , except the Deniliquin,
Tocumwal Tocumwal ( ) is a town in the southern Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Berrigan Shire local government area, near the Victorian border. The town is situated on the banks of the Murray River, north of the city of Melbourne ...
, and the disused
Moulamein Moulamein is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Murray River Council local government area. At the , Moulamein had a population of 484 . Moulamein is the oldest town in the Riverina. The town is located between Balranald, Hay, ...
lines, which are on broad gauge, and run from Victoria into the state. *
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seyche ...
: , except for a standard gauge line from Melbourne to the New South Wales border and from Melbourne to the South Australia border, and branch lines to Yelta, Portland, Hopetoun and several others. *
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
: in the
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
suburban area; standard gauge lines to Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory; one line carrying gypsum in the far west and others carrying iron ore to
Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta ...
*Western Australia: , except for a standard gauge line from
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
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: .


New Zealand

New Zealand originally had small lengths of lines of , and , but quickly converted all to , which better suited the sparsely populated and mountainous country.


Notes


References


Bibliography

*


See also

*
Erie Gauge War The Erie Gauge War (sometimes called the Erie Railroad War) was a conflict between the citizens of Erie, Pennsylvania, and two railroad companies over the standardization of the track gauge between Erie and the New York border. It started on Dec ...
*
Eurasian Land Bridge The Eurasian Land Bridge (), sometimes called the New Silk Road (, ), is the rail transport route for moving freight and passengers overland between Pacific seaports in the Russian Far East and China and seaports in Europe. The route, a transco ...
* Gauntlet track *
Janes World Railways ''Jane's World Railways'' is a directory of railway activities worldwide. It is published annually by Jane's Information Group. Janes World Railways (JWR) provides details on railway systems and operators, manufacturers of equipment, technology ...
has maps that generally show breaks-of-gauge. * Piggyback (transportation) *
Ramsey car-transfer apparatus In railroad industry, the Ramsey car-transfer apparatus (Ramsey transfer) was a device to replace bogies on railroad cars to permit transfer of a train between railroad lines with different gauge. The Ramsey transfer existed in a number of var ...
* Track gauge conversion *
Variable gauge axles A variable gauge system allows railway vehicles in a train to travel across a break of gauge between two railway networks with different track gauges. For through operation, a train must be equipped with special bogies holding variable gauge wh ...
**
INTERGAUGE SUW 2000 is a Polish variable gauge system that allows trains to cross a break of gauge. It is interoperable with the German Rafil Type V system (built by the Radsatzfabrik Ilsenburg). History The SUW 2000 system was designed by Ryszard Suwalski. ...
a form of VGA **
SUW 2000 SUW 2000 is a Polish variable gauge system that allows trains to cross a break of gauge. It is interoperable with the German Rafil Type V system (built by the Radsatzfabrik Ilsenburg). History The SUW 2000 system was designed by Ryszard Suwalski. ...
a form of VGA


External links


Jane's World Railways
(hard copy) *Transport and Telecommunicatio
The operation of the gauge changing facility of the new railway line Rail Baltica
Jonas Jonaitis, Vol.7, No 1, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Break Of Gauge Track gauges es:Cambiador de ancho