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Railway track gauge (1600 mm)
Track gauge
By transport mode
By size (
list )
Minimum
Minimum
Fifteen inch
381 mm
(15 in)
Narrow
(1 ft 11+ 5 ⁄8 in)
(2 ft)
(2 ft 3 in)
(2 ft 5+ 1 ⁄2 in)
(2 ft 5+ 15 ⁄16 in)
(2 ft 6 in)
891 mm
900 mm
914 mm
950 mm
(2 ft 11+ 3 ⁄32 in)
(2 ft 11+ 7 ⁄16 in)
(3 ft)
(3 ft1+ 13 ⁄32 in)
Metre
1,000 mm
(3 ft 3+ 3 ⁄8 in)
Three foot six inch
1,067 mm
(3 ft 6 in)
Four foot
1,219 mm
(4 ft)
Four foot six inch
1,372 mm
(4 ft 6 in)
1432 mm
1,432 mm
(4 ft 8+ 3 ⁄8 in)
Standard
1,435 mm
(4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in)
Broad
(4 ft 8+ 7 ⁄8 in)
(4 ft 9+ 3 ⁄32 in)
Leipzig gauge
1,458 mm
(4 ft 9+ 13 ⁄32 in)
Toronto gauge
1,495 mm
(4 ft 10+ 7 ⁄8 in)
(4 ft 11+ 27 ⁄32 in)
(5 ft)
1,581 mm
1,588 mm
1,600 mm
(5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄4 in)
(5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄2 in)
(5 ft 3 in)
Baltimore gauge
1,638 mm
(5 ft 4+ 1 ⁄2 in)
(5 ft 5+ 21 ⁄32 in)
(5 ft 6 in)
Six foot
1,829 mm
(6 ft)
Brunel
2,140 mm
(7 ft 1 ⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
By location
Railways with a
track gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) fall within the category of
broad gauge railways . As of 2022
[update] , they were extant in
Australia ,
Brazil and on the
island of Ireland .
History
600 BC
The
Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the
Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved paved trackway – was constructed with an average gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ).
[1]
1840
The
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway was constructed in 1840-1851 to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) gauge before being
converted to 4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm ) in 1854–1855.
1843
The
Board of Trade of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , after investigating a dispute caused by diverse gauges, recommended the use of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) in Ireland.
[2]
1846
The
Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 made 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) mandatory throughout all of Ireland.
[3]
[2]
1847
The
Swiss Northern Railway was opened as a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) line[
when? ] and converted to 4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm ) in 1854.
1854
The first Australian railway to operate steam-powered freight and passenger services,
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company , was built as a 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm ) line.
[4]
1858
The first Brazilian 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) railway was opened: the
Companhia de Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II .
1863
The
Canterbury Railway in New Zealand was built in 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ). It was converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm ) in 1876.
Nomenclature
In
Great Britain and
Ireland , the gauge is known as Irish gauge .
[5]
[6]
[7] In Ireland it is also common to hear it referred to as "standard gauge" or "broad gauge" when distinguishing it from the various
3 ft (narrow gauge) railways of
the island .
[8]
[9]
In
Australia , where the states of Victoria and South Australia have this gauge (as did Tasmania in the 19th century), it is also known as broad gauge .
[10] : 168
[11]
In Brazil, the gauge is mainly known as broad gauge (
Portuguese : bitola larga ), but occasionally as Irish gauge (
Portuguese : bitola irlandesa ).
[12]
[13]
Installations
Country/region
Railway
Australia
States of
South Australia ,
Victoria (Victorian broad gauge),
New South Wales (a few lines built by, and connected to, the Victorian rail system) and
Tasmania, Australia (one line,
Deloraine to
Launceston , opened in 1871, partly converted to
dual gauge , and then converted to
3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm ) in 1888).
The 828 km (514.5 mi) long
Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor linking South Australia and Victoria, was
converted to
standard gauge in 1995. The 125 km (77.7 mi) long
Oaklands railway line , which runs into
New South Wales from Victoria, was converted to standard gauge in 2009.
200 km (124.3 mi) of the
North East line, Victoria was converted to
standard gauge in 2008–2011, meaning a
double track standard gauge line was created between
Seymour and
Albury .
The current[
when? ] network is 4,017 km or 2,496 mi, 10% of the total Australian rail network. The
Mildura railway line and
Murrayville railway lines were converted to standard gauge in 2018.
Brazil
Lines connecting the states of
Rio de Janeiro ,
São Paulo and
Minas Gerais ; E.F.Carajás in
Pará and
Maranhão states, and Ferronorte in
Mato Grosso and
Mato Grosso do Sul states. Used in older Metro systems. Although the
metre gauge network is almost five times longer,
[14] Irish gauge is considered the standard by
ABNT .
[15] The current[
when? ] network is 4,057 km or 2,521 mi, 15% of the total Brazilian network.
Germany
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway 1840–1855
[16]
Island of Ireland
Following proposed projects of the
Ulster Railway and
Dublin and Drogheda Railway companies (using 6 ft 2 in (1,880 mm ) and 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm ), respectively), and existing issues of competing gauges in Great Britain, in 1843 the
Board of Trade (with the advice of engineers
Charles Pasley and
George Stephenson ) introduced the gauge as a compromise.
[2] The
Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 was passed to formalise the gauge used on the island of Ireland to 5 feet 3 inches (1600mm).
[3]
[2] As of 2013
[update] the network totals over 2,730 km or 1,696 mi, 2,400 km or 1,491 mi in the
Republic of Ireland
[17] and 330 km or 205 mi in
Northern Ireland .
Switzerland
Swiss Northern Railway between 1847 and 1854, converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in )
standard gauge .
Fun'Ambule Funicular in Neuchâtel, 330 m long, opened 27 April 2001.
New Zealand
Canterbury Railways from 1863; all were routes converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm ) by 1876.
Similar gauges
The
Pennsylvania trolley gauges of
5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,588 mm ) and 5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄4 in (1,581 mm ) are similar to this gauge, but incompatible. There is also a
5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm ) gauge. See:
Track gauge in Ireland .
Locomotives
RPSI Steam train leaving
Great Victoria Street station - 1975
Before the advent of diesel and electric traction, one of the advantages of the broader 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ) Irish gauge compared to 4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm ) was that more space between steam locomotive
frames allows for a bigger firebox, enabling generation of more steam.
See also
References
^ Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), "Railways in the Greek and Roman world", in Guy, A.; Rees, J. (eds.),
Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference (PDF) , pp. 8–19 (10–15), archived from
the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009
^
a
b
c
d
"Brief history of Irish railways" .
Downpatrick & County Down Railway . Archived from
the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024 .
^
a
b
"Odds and ends" .
Colonial Times . Hobart, Tasmania: National Library of Australia. 24 March 1846. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2012 .
^ Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62 . Melbourne: Victorian Railways. p. 40.
^ Viscount Lifford (24 April 1879).
"Railways (Ireland)—resolution" .
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) .
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland : Lords. col. 967.
^ Rail, Irish.
"Iarnród Éireann Heritage and Enthusiasts" . Irish Rail .
^
https://hmrs.org.uk/stewards/irish-bg
^ McCormack, K. (2017). Irish Railways in the 1950s and 1960s: A Journey Through Two Decades . United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Books.
^ Irish Builder and Engineer . (1881:58). Ireland: Howard MacGarvey & Sons..
^ Fitch, Ron (2006). Australian Railwayman: from cadet engineer to railways commissioner . Dural, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd.
ISBN
1877058483 .
^ Mike W. Harry (2008). Cast Into the Unknown . p.
30 .
ISBN
9781875329670 .
^ Engenharia, Wasaki (27 October 2022).
"As medidas das bitolas mais usadas no Brasil" .
^
"A padronização da bitola nas ferrovias da Grã-Bretanha" . vfco.brazilia.jor.br .
^ Rail_transport_in_Brazil
^ Newer Metro systems use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄2 in )
standard gauge .
^ Rieger, Bernhard (23 April 2006).
"Breitspurbahn" . Archived from
the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2007 .
^
"Infrastructure" . Irish Rail . Archived from
the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013 .
Minimum-gauge
Minimum-gauge railways
Narrow gauge
2 foot and 600 mm
750 mm (2 ft 5+ 1 ⁄2 in )
760 mm (2 ft 5+ 15 ⁄16 in )
2 ft 6 in (762 mm )
800 mm (2 ft 7+ 1 ⁄2 in )
891 mm (2 ft 11+ 3 ⁄32 in )
Swedish three foot
900 mm (2 ft 11+ 7 ⁄16 in )
3 ft (914 mm )
950 mm (3 ft 1+ 3 ⁄8 in )
Italian metre gauge
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+ 3 ⁄8 in )
metre gauge
1,050 mm (3 ft 5+ 11 ⁄32 in ),
1,055 mm (3 ft 5+ 1 ⁄2 in ),
3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm )
1,093 mm (3 ft 7 in ),
1,100 mm (3 ft 7+ 5 ⁄16 in ),
1,200 mm (3 ft 11+ 1 ⁄4 in )
4 ft (1,219 mm )
4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm ),
Middleton Railway
4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm ), Scotch gauge
4 ft 6+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,384 mm ), Scotch gauge
4 ft 7+ 3 ⁄4 in (1,416 mm )
4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm ), almost standard gauge
4 ft 8+ 1 ⁄4 in (1,429 mm )
1,432 mm (4 ft 8+ 3 ⁄8 in )
Standard gauge
Broad gauge
1,440 mm (4 ft 8+ 11 ⁄16 in )
1,445 mm (4 ft 8+ 7 ⁄8 in )
1,450 mm (4 ft 9+ 3 ⁄32 in )
4 ft 9+ 3 ⁄8 in (1,457 mm )
1,458 mm (4 ft 9+ 13 ⁄32 in )
4 ft 10+ 7 ⁄8 in (1,495 mm ), Toronto gauge
5 ft / 1,524 mm and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+ 27 ⁄32 in ), Russian gauge.
5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄4 in / 1,581 mm and
5 ft 2+ 1 ⁄2 in / 1,588 mm , Pennsylvania gauge
5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm ), Irish gauge
5 ft 4+ 1 ⁄2 in (1,638 mm ), Baltimore gauge
1,668 mm (5 ft 5+ 21 ⁄32 in ), Iberian gauge
5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm ), Indian gauge
7 ft 1 ⁄4 in (2,140 mm ), Brunel gauge
3,000 mm (9 ft 10+ 1 ⁄8 in ), Breitspurbahn
8,200 mm (26 ft 10+ 27 ⁄32 in ),
Lärchwandschrägaufzug
9,000 mm (29 ft 6+ 5 ⁄16 in ),
Krasnoyarsk ship lift
List of track gauge articles Gauge differences Transport mode Categories