Track width

From the middle of the XIX century, the standard on the railways of the Russian Empire , later - the USSR and Finland , and subsequently Mongolia , was chosen as the gauge of 1,524 mm (5 English feet ). From May 1970 to the beginning of the 1990s, the USSR railways were transferred to the 1520 mm gauge. This was done with the aim of increasing track stability during the operation of freight trains, increasing their speed without upgrading the rolling stock itself . After the collapse of the USSR, this is the standard gauge for the railways of all countries formed in its place. The railways of Finland and the Helsinki Metro still continue to use the same standard - 1524 mm.

The difference of 4 mm does not require re-equipment of the rolling stock, but at the transitional stage it caused serious problems with a sharply increased wear of wheelsets of the rolling stock.

However, until the end, the relationship of the gauge or, more correctly, the gap between the inner edge of the rail head and the wheel flange (flange) of the wheel pair with the intensity of their wear could not be established.

The same track width (1520 mm) is used in all metros in Russia and the CIS . Most CIS tram lines use a 1,520 mm gauge (although there are narrow gauge tram systems with a 1 meter gauge , for example, in Kaliningrad , Pyatigorsk , Lviv , Vinnitsa , Zhytomyr , Yevpatoriya , in the village of Molochnoye and in Liepaja ). Tram in Helsinki also has a meter track.

In Tallinn, the width of the tramway is 1067 mm . In Rostov-on-Don , a European gauge of 1435 mm is used for the tram.

It is interesting to note that the very first railway of Russia - Tsarskoye Selo - had an even wider gauge: 1829 mm.

The gauge width of 1524 mm was first used in Russia during the construction of the Nikolaev Railway (mid XIX century). It is believed that this was related to the work on the construction of road consultants from the United States, and above all J.V. Whistler (at the time this gauge was popular in the southern states of the United States ). It is also possible that Russian engineers P. P. Melnikov and N. O. Kraft , who visited America before the construction of the Nikolaev Railway, suggested using this gauge. In addition, this gauge was convenient in that it was expressed by a round number — 5 feet .

There is a myth that when choosing the gauge the military aspect played a role - a gauge different from the European one would make it difficult for a hypothetical enemy to supply troops in the event of an invasion of Russia. In fact, Nicholas I and his entourage did not anticipate that the troops would move at the speed of a locomotive, and a change of gauge would slow the enemy’s movement (by the beginning of the construction of the Nikolaev railroad it was already known that the horse was losing to locomotive in speed over long distances). The choice is due to the fact that in the second third of the XIX century the United States was the leader in the construction of railways. The people in favor of the myth played the facts that during the Great Patriotic War, the advancing troops really had to change the width of the track for their rolling stock. According to various estimates, the rate of change of gauge by railway troops is up to 20-50 km per day ^{[1] [2]} .

In addition, at the time of the establishment of a single-gauge standard in Russia, there was no European standard. By itself, the 1520 mm gauge does not have big advantages over 1435 mm, except for a slightly greater stability of trains, the difference between them is small - 85 mm (≈6%).

Until the beginning of the 1980s, the second most widespread track gauge in the USSR was 750 mm , which was used for industrial, peat and forestry narrow gauge railways , as well as on children's railways . Construction and maintenance of narrow gauge railways is much cheaper. In addition, the narrow gauge railway allows you to make steeper turns, but the speed of trains on it is much lower. Therefore, over the past decades, the length of the railways of this track has sharply decreased. Some of the most lively narrow-gauge railway lines were rebuilt on a standard gauge, but most of the narrow gauge railways were simply closed, often due to the bankruptcy of service enterprises or the replacement of technological railways by road and industrial conveyors .

The most common gauge in the world is 1,435 mm (4 English feet and 8.5 inches). This track has the railways of North America, China and Europe (with the exception of the CIS countries, the Baltic states, Finland, Ireland , Spain and Portugal ). This is the width of the gauge was adopted for the construction of the first passenger railway line Liverpool - Manchester by engineer George Stephenson . In fact, this gauge was the narrowest of all the numerous broad gauge variants, chosen so that rail overlaps do not require investments to rebuild bridges, embankments and grooves. . Twenty years later (in 1846), this gauge was recognized as the standard by the English parliament and was to be used in the construction of new railways.

It should be noted that one of the first British railway companies Great Western Railway used a wide gauge of 2140 mm. In 1866, the length of roads on the broad track of this company was 959 km ^[3] . The struggle between the different gauge standards in 1844–1846 in England resulted in the so-called “gauge wars” ( Gauge Wars ), but later lines with a broad gauge of 2,140 mm were altered on a standard gauge.

In the border areas where a different gauge is used, sometimes there are paths with a combined gauge, in particular, from Kaliningrad (Russia) to Braniewo station (Poland). Further the European track proceeds.

The first railway line on the territory of Poland as part of the Russian Empire was built with a European gauge. It was the Warsaw-Vienna Railway, opened in 1848. Railways with a gauge of 1524 mm began to arise in the following years: Petersburg-Warsaw railway (1862), Warsaw-Terespol railway (1867), Privislinsk railway (1877) and Warsaw-Kalisz railway (1902). Despite this, at the same time, railway lines were built using the European width, as it was in the Warsaw-Bromberg railway (1862). After Poland gained independence, the process of modernization of the railway network began, and by 1929 all the Russian broad gauge railway lines in Poland were altered to a width of 1,435 mm.

Super Wide Track

• 3000 mm: Germany (late 1930s) - in the Third Reich , a project was developed for the construction of a network of super-wide-gauge high-speed railways, the so-called Breitspurbahn . This network was planned in Europe, and in the future in Asia, the roads were supposed to link Japan and India with Europe. A demonstration plot was built, steam locomotives, diesel locomotives and wagons were developed. The project has not been implemented.
• 2140 mm: England (from 1833 to 1892) - Great Western Railway
• 2000 mm: England (since 2001) - (mountain cable railway for skiing)
• 1945 mm: the Netherlands .
• 1880 mm: England .
• 1829 mm: Russia - the first railway of Russia ( Tsarskoye Selo railway )
• 1750 mm: France .

Broad gauge

• 1676 mm (“Indian gauge”): India ; Pakistan ; Bangladesh ; Sri Lanka ; Canada ; USA ( metro San Francisco ). Also found in Argentina and Chile .
• 1668 mm ("Iberian gauge"): Portugal ; Spain The rolling stock of this standard is also suitable for use on an Indian gauge of 1676 mm.
• 1665 mm: Portugal . Old standard before unification with Spain.
• 1600 mm (Irish Gauge): Australia ( New South Wales suburban roads); Brazil ; Ireland ; New Zealand ; .
• 1588 mm: USA . Used for trams in some cities.
• 1581 mm: USA . Used for trams in some cities.
• 1575 mm: Ireland .
• 1524 mm (historical “Russian Track”): the Russian Empire and the USSR (1851-1970); Finland ; Estonia (after the collapse of the USSR - the unification of standards with Finland); USA (completely replaced with 1435 mm gauge, there are short ways for technical needs); Panama Canal (completely replaced by gauge 1435 mm).
• 1,520 mm (new “Russian gauge”): USSR since the 1970s; CIS , including Russia; Latvia ; Lithuania ; Mongolia ; some other countries. In practice, the rolling stock of railways with a track width of 1524 mm and 1520 mm is compatible. Technical requirements for the Allegro train (route: St. Petersburg - Helsinki) include the number 1522 mm.
• 1,495 mm: Canada . Used for trams and subway in Toronto.
• 1473 mm: United States .
• 1,435 mm (the so-called “ Stefenson gauge”): The main gauge of railways in the world (also often referred to as “European”, “normal”, “standard” or “international” gauge); Shinkansen ; Australia (17678 km - all interstate roads, part of local and suburban roads)

Narrow gauge

• 1372 mm: Japan . Trams.
• 1220 mm: Scotland ; Glasgow Metro ; Swansea and Mumbles Railway until 1855 ^[4] .
• 1100 mm: Brazil . Trams.
• 1093 mm: Sweden .
• 1067 mm (so-called " Cape Track "): Angola ; Australia ; Botswana ; Ghana ; Ecuador ; Indonesia ; Japan (with the exception of high-speed Shinkansen lines); South Africa ; Canada (until 1880–1930); Congo ; Costa Rica ; Malawi Mozambique Namibia ; New Zealand ; Nicaragua ; Nigeria ; Russia ( Sakhalin Railway ); Sudan Taiwan Tallinn Tanzania ; Honduras ; Sweden Snafell Mountain Railway , ;
• 1050 mm: Jordan ; Syria Hejaz railway
• 1009 mm: Sofia tram
• 1000 mm : (so-called " meter gauge"): Argentina ; Bangladesh ; Benin ; Brazil ; Bolivia ; Burkina Faso ; Burma ; Vietnam ; India ; Cambodia ; Cameroon ; Kenya ; Laos ; Malaysia ; Mali ; Myanmar ; Pakistan ; Poland ; Portugal ; Senegal ; Tanzania ; Thailand ; Tunisia Uganda ; Spain ; Switzerland ; Russia ; Railway Jungfrau ; Germany-Museum Railway Bruchhausen Wilsen.
• 950 mm: Italy ; Eritrea .
• 914 mm: Colombia ; Peru ; Canada ; Salvador Guatemala ; United States ; Spain ; Abkhazia ; New Athos Cave Railway , Isle of Man Railway , White Pass and Yukon Railway
• 900 mm: Poland .
• 891 mm (known as the “Swedish three-foot gauge”): Sweden .
• 883 mm: Russia . Bogoslovsko-Sosvinskaya railway, Nadezhda steel-wall plant
• 800 mm: Usually prom. lines - Wales ; Switzerland ; Snowdon Mountain Railway
• 785 mm: Poland .
• 762 mm: Australia ; Chile ; India ; Sierra Leone ; USA
• 760 mm: Brazil ; Austria ; Bulgaria (125 km)
• 750 mm : Belorussia . Minsk . "Toy railway"; Greece ; Poland ; Russia ; Switzerland and other countries. In practice, rolling stock of railways with a gauge of 750, 760 and 762 mm is often compatible. Alapaevskaya narrow-gauge railway
• 700 mm (so-called “Dekavilevskaya gauge”: Argentina , Denmark , Indonesia (sugar factories, salt mines), Spain , Netherlands (industrial lines), France (Chemin de fer d'Abreschviller),
• 686 mm: Wales . , Talillinsky Railway
• 610 mm: Australia ; India ; Republic of South Africa - two roads: 248 km and 122 km; England United States . , , Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
• 603 mm: Wales ; Breconian Mountain Railway ,
• 600 mm: Military and prom. lines in the XIX century and the first half of the XX century: France ; Greece ; Poland ; Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden ; England Maltanka Children's Railway in Poland . In Russia it is sometimes used for mine roads. Rolling stock track gauge 597, 600, 603, 610 mm is fully compatible.
• 597 mm: Wales ; Фестиниогская железная дорога , Валлийская нагорная железная дорога , Валлийская нагорная музейная железная дорога , Приозёрная железная дорога Лланбериса
• 578 мм: Уэльс ;
• 508 мм: Россия ; Красноярская детская железная дорога (с 1961 года)
• 457 мм: Англия ;
• 410 мм: Германия ; Детский трамвай Франкфурта-на-Майне
• 381 мм: США в Висконсин Деллс ; , Железная дорога Хус — Дангнесс ), Англия ; , , Железная дорога Хус-Дангнесс
• 305 мм: Россия ; Красноярская детская железная дорога (с 1936 по 1961 год)
• 260 mm: United Kingdom , Staffordshire ;

Since the most common types of gauge in the modern world are the European gauge and the Russian gauge , connecting the railways with these gauges causes the greatest problems. Currently, the largest number of docking stations is concentrated on the border of Ukraine (Russian gauge - 1,520 mm) with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania (1,435 mm European gauge) —about 15 docking nodes. In these places for many tens of kilometers on both sides of the borders of neighboring states there are railways, both Russian and European gauge. In part of these docking stations , the cargo is reloaded and (or) the passengers are transported, and in some parts the cars are relocated (replacement of carriages).

Rearranging the cars of a passenger train takes about two hours. Replacing freight carriages can take several days or even weeks, taking into account the queue. Many reshuffling stations can handle only a few dozen wagons a day. This significantly increases the time spent on the road in international traffic. So, for example, the modern train St. Petersburg - Helsinki " Allegro " does not stop at the border of Russia and Finland due to the fact that these countries use very close gauge (1520 and 1524 mm, respectively - the difference in width is less than 0.3%) , and the train is designed for the average value. At the same time, passenger trains from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine to other European countries lose at least two hours in time to re-arrange cars.

In addition to replacing wheelsets, the transition between tracks with different gauges is possible with the help of sliding wheelset systems . It uses several automatic gauge change systems. For example, the Spanish Talgo-RD (it has been actively used since the 1960s; it is used on the Moscow - Berlin route, the gauge change point is Brest ) and the Polish SUW 2000 (used on the Krakow - Lviv route, previously on the Warsaw - Vilnius route, etc. ). To operate the systems, it is necessary to use original carts or the entire rolling stock.

• Opportunities to overcome the gauge change points
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  On the border of Sweden and Finland. From left to right:
  first and third rails: 1524 mm gauge (Finland);
  second and fourth rails: 1435 mm gauge (Sweden).

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  Changing carts on the Russian-Chinese border .
  Station Grodekovo (pos. Pogranichny ).

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  The section of the track with the Talgo-RD gauge change system. Lleida , Spain.

• Although Slovakia uses the standard 1435 mm European gauge, in order to accelerate the supply of iron ore from the USSR to the metallurgical plants in Kosice , in 1963 a 1520 mm wide-gauge railway from Uzhgorod to the station Ganiska pri Koshitsy 88 km long was built. The road is heavily used so far. The second such road - the Polish broad-gauge metallurgical line - has existed in Poland on PKP since 1979 and leads from Hrubieszów to the Silesian city ​​of Slavków . It transported iron ore from the USSR to Katowice metallurgical plants and coal in the opposite direction.
• It often happens that, due to territorial peculiarities and passenger and cargo flows, the railway branches of the “alien” gauge not only reach the border station, but also cover a considerable distance. Thus, the European gauge, which passes from Slovakia to the Ukrainian city of Chop , goes further through Batievo , Korolyovo and Dyakovo to Romania, so that European trains can transit Ukraine without changing wheelsets. The railway from Teresva through Sighet to Rakhov runs through the territory of Romania, but uses a gauge of 1,520 mm, and the European gauge runs in parallel from Sighet. It was difficult to build a direct road from Solotvino to Rakhov because of the mountainous terrain of the Carpathians. Since 2000, this line is not in operation.
• Also practiced rail service with the possibility of transfer at border stations. An example of this is the Chop - Budapest , Chop - Cerna nad Tisou trains and others.
• 1435 mm gauge railway tracks were laid in Russia from the border with Poland to Kaliningrad . Passenger and freight trains travel from Kaliningrad to European countries on the European track. For example, the train Kaliningrad - Gdynia (run until October 2012 daily, then - every other day, currently canceled) and trailer cars to Berlin to it. Currently, the Kaliningrad-Passenger station (South Station) has a single track with a gauge of 1,435 mm.

• In the international passenger traffic between the cities of Nanning ( PRC ) and Hanoi ( Vietnam ), the problem of docking was solved very simply. Vietnam uses a narrow gauge of 1000 mm, China - European (1,435 mm), a third rail was added to the Vietnamese narrow-gauge railway, so that both Vietnamese narrow-gauge trains and Chinese broad-gauge trains could go.

• Ship lift of Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric station
• Narrow gauge railway Antonovka - Zarechnoye
• Track width in Slovakia
• Railway Border Crossing

• Railways track (Unsolved) . Archived December 10, 2012.
• About the different tracks of the world
• Combined gauge (Neopr.) . Archived January 8, 2013.
• History of the Ryazan-Ural Railway