Broad gauge railways use a
rail gauge (distance between the rails) greater than the
standard gauge of .
List
For list see:
List of broad gauges, by gauge and country
History
]
In Britain the
Great Western Railway, designed by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pioneered broad gauge from 1838 with a gauge of , and retained this gauge until 1892. A number of harbours also used railways of this gauge for construction and maintenance. These included
Portland Harbour and
Holyhead Breakwater, which used a locomotive for working
sidings. As it was not connected to the national network, this broad gauge operation continued until the locomotive wore out in 1913.
Connection
It became apparent that
standardization on a single gauge throughout a rail transport system was advantageous. Rolling stock did not need to match the gauge exactly; a difference of a few
millimeters could be coped with, so that interoperability on systems with gauges only slightly different was possible.
While the parliament of
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was initially prepared to authorise lines built to the broad gauge of , it was eventually rejected by the Gauge Commission in favour of all railways in the British Isles being built to standard gauge of ; based on the gauge with the highest route-mileage. Ireland, using the same criteria, was allocated a different standard gauge -
Irish gauge. Broad gauge lines in Britain were gradually
converted to
dual gauge or standard gauge from 1864, and finally the last of Brunel's broad gauge was converted in 1892.
Many countries have broad gauge railways.
Ireland (see
History of rail transport in Ireland) and some parts of
Australia (see
History of rail transport in Australia) and
Brazil have a gauge of , but
Luas, the Dublin light rail system, is built to standard gauge.
Russia and the other former
Soviet Republics use a (originally ) gauge while
Finland continues to use the gauge inherited from
Imperial Russia (the two standards are close enough to allow full interoperability between Finland and Russia).
In 1839 the
Netherlands started its railway system with two broad gauge railways. The chosen gauge was after a visit of engineers in England. This was applied between 1839–1866 by the
Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM) for their Amsterdam-The Hague-Rotterdam line and between 1842–1855, firstly by the Dutch state, but soon by the
Nederlandsche Rhijnspoorweg-Maatschappij for their Amsterdam-Utrecht-Arnhem line. But the neighboring countries Prussia and Belgium already used standard gauge so the two companies had to regauge their first lines. In 1855, NRS regauged its line and shortly after connected to the Prussian railways. The HSM followed in 1866. There are replicas of one broad gauge 2-2-2 locomotive (
De Arend) and three carriages in the
Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht. These replicas were built for the 100th anniversary of the Dutch Railways in 1938–39.
The
Baltic states have received funding from the
European Union to build new lines with
standard gauge.
Portugal and the
Spanish Renfe system use a gauge of called "Ancho Ibérico" in Spanish or "Bitola Ibérica" in Portuguese (see
Iberian gauge &
Rail gauge); there are plans to convert to
standard gauge Verkehrsrundschau, 30. April 2007. In
India,
Pakistan and
Bangladesh, a gauge of is widespread. This is also used by the
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system of the
San Francisco Bay Area. In
Toronto,
Canada the gauge for
TTC subways and streetcars was chosen in 1861, years after the establishment of 'standard gauge' in Britain, but well before 'standard gauge' in the US and Canada. Toronto uses a unique gauge of , an "overgauge" originally stated to 'allow horse-drawn wagons to use the rails', but with the practical effect of precluding the use of standard gauge equipment in the street. In 1861, the province was supplying subsidies only to broad 'provincial gauge' railways.
The value of interoperability was initially not obvious to the industry. The standardization movement was gradual; over time the value of a proprietary gauge diminished, being replaced by the idea of charging money for equipment used on other railroad lines.
The use of a non-standard gauge precludes interoperability of rolling stock on railway networks. On the GWR the gauge was supposed to allow high speed, but the company had difficulty with locomotive design in the early years, losing much of their advantage, and rapid advances in
permanent way and suspension technology allowed standard gauge speeds to approach broad gauge speeds within a decade or two. On the and gauges the extra width allowed bigger inside cylinders and greater power, a problem solvable by using outside cylinders and higher steam pressure on standard gauge. In the event, the most powerful engines on standard gauge in North America far exceeded the power of any broad gauge locomotive.
Canadian gauge
The first railway in
British North America, the
Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad, was built in 1835-36 to
gauge, setting the standard for Britain's colonies for several decades. Today, this is commonly known as
Indian gauge, but in 1851 the broad gauge was officially adopted as the standard gauge for the
Province of Canada, becoming known as the
Provincial gauge, and government subsidies were unavailable for railways that chose other gauges. However, this caused problems in interchanging freight cars with northern United States railroads, most of which were built to
standard gauge or a gauge similar to it. In the 1870s, mainly between 1872 and 1874, Canadian broad gauge lines were
changed to standard gauge to facilitate interchange and the exchange of rolling stock with American railroads. Today, all Canadian freight railways are standard gauge, with only the
Toronto Transit Commission operating streetcars and subway vehicles on its own unique
overgauge of .
Indian and Pakistani gauge
See also Indian rail gauge
The
British Raj in India adopted
gauge, although some standard gauge railways were built in the initial period. The standard gauge railways were soon converted to broad gauge. Reputedly, broad gauge was thought necessary to keep trains stable in the face of strong
monsoon winds. Attempts to economise on the cost of construction led to the adoption of gauge and then and
narrow gauges for many secondary and feeder lines, particularly in mountainous terrain.
However broad gauge remained the most prevalent gauge across the
Indian Subcontinent, reaching right across from
Iran into
Pakistan to
Burma and
Kashmir to
Sri Lanka. After
Independence, the
Pakistan Railways and
Indian Railways adopted as the standard Indian Gauge, and began
Project Unigauge to convert
metre gauge and narrow gauge to this gauge. Some of the newest rail projects in India, such as the
Konkan Railway and the
Delhi Metro, use standard Indian Gauge. There was a move to use
standard gauge for the Delhi Metro, but the decision was made to use standard Indian Gauge to maintain compatibility with the rest of the rail network in India. The decision was later changed and several new lines, including the Airport Express Line, use standard gauge. The new
Bangalore Metro,
Mumbai Metro, and
Hyderabad Metro systems, all in planning or under construction , will be on standard gauge. A few remaining narrow gauge sections in
Pakistan are being converted to broad gauge.
Because of the broad gauge, trains in India and Pakistan can carry
standard shipping containers double-stacked on standard
flatcars, which is more economical than single containers, but standard gauge railways in North American and elsewhere must use special
double-stack cars to lower the
center of gravity and reduce the
loading gauge. Indian Railways is able to carry containers double-stacked on standard flatcars at . (Triple-stacked operation with lower, containers, is planned
Indian Express). Flatcars, in addition to being much less expensive than well cars, can carry more containers in a given length of train.{{cite web
| last = Das
| first = Mamuni
| title = Spotlight on double-stack container movement
| publisher = The Hindu Business Line
| date = October 15, 2007
| url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/15/stories/2007101551550600.htm
| accessdate = 2009-02-25}}