Rail transportation is one of the leading types of passenger and cargo transportation. Few people think about the gauge when getting on the train. Even fewer people know what these parameters were dictated by. For various reasons, the railway track gauge in different countries has significant differences.
A bit of history
England science fiction writer Herbert George Wells says that the dimensions of the track were selected based on the distance between the wheels of an ordinary horse-drawn cart. You can read about this in his essay "Foresight".
The development of railway transport falls on the middle of the 19th century. At the same time, giant companies in this industry maximize their influence in business circles. Of course, at the same time, significant industrial growth is recorded.
The first locomotives were seen as an alternative to horsepower. Their parameters are fully consistent with the size of the crews. This is what dictated the dimensions of the first railway transport and the track width (1435 mm).
Not all the first paths were laid on the basis offrom the generally accepted norm. So, for example, the width of the railway track on the road from Dublin to Drogheda (Ireland) was 1600 mm.
Struggle for track gauge
Engineer Isambart Brunel, who lived in 1806-1859, always spoke in favor of widening the gauge. In 1835, the construction of the Great Western Road was completed. The distance between the rails was 2135 mm.
Disagreements over the question of what gauge should be taken as the standard continued until 1845. During the controversy, the performance characteristics of roads of various types have been carefully studied. In order to make the only correct decision in England, a special parliamentary commission was created, which was supposed to establish uniform railway gauge sizes. Thus, in 1845, a law appeared on the construction of railways with a gauge of 1435 mm. And the existing paths that did not correspond to these data were required to be reconstructed. Violators faced a fine of £10 per mile for 1 day of illegal road existence.
Special conditions for Ireland
The Great Western Road had to lay another, third, rail. For Ireland, the government of England made an exception (the gauge here and still is 1600 mm). In the country in the 40s of the 19th century, the gauge of six standards successfully coexisted. In order for the issue to be resolved fairly, the government has set a single standard by calculating the average result.
USA Railroads
In the US before the Civil War, the states sought to separate themselves. Of course, this could not but affect the transport. The first roads differed greatly in the distance between the rails. In New York, a law was passed that prohibited other branches from connecting to roads (their gauge was 1524 mm).
From 1865 to 1886 there was a union of American highways. The states are beginning to find ways of interaction, the English standard is gaining more and more supporters.
Only in February 1886 they adopted the "Convention", which secured the introduction of a single gauge in the United States. Highways lasting 21,000 km were rebuilt in just two days. And the preparation took 79 days. The railway gauge in the USA was reduced to 1435 mm. Same size for Canadian Railways.
European Railways
English gauge (1435 mm) was also common on the European continent. Legislatively, this size was approved in different countries at different times: in Bavaria in 1836, in Prussia in 1837, on the territory of the entire German Customs Union - in 1850.
Since then, the railway gauge in Europe, adopted in England, has been taken as the basis and is the most common.
However, the origins of these parameters should be sought in Ancient Rome. In those distant times, in order to prevent constant breakdowns of chariots, it was decided to create carts with the same distance between the wheels (and it was 1435 mm).
Broad gauge
Besides Ireland, the broad gauge (1600 mm) is also used in countries such as Australia (partly since 1854) and Brazil. Morewide (1676 mm) was introduced in Spain in 1848, in Portugal - in 1854, in Argentina - in 1857, and even later - in India, Chile, Ceylon.
In all these countries, the track gauge adopted at that time has still remained predominant.
And what about Russia
The railway gauge in Russia was more than English. From the figure of 1829 mm, introduced on the Tsarskoye Selo road, the country switched to a size of 1524 mm. It was typical for the Moscow-Petersburg road. In the future, this parameter became the norm. Apparently, Russian engineers borrowed the figure from the United States. At that time, consultants from America were actively involved in blazing new trails.
Width of 1524 mm was justified by economic calculations. When creating such a track, the government incurred less useless costs. Perhaps it was also a strategic decision. Since the neighboring countries would not be able to invade the country through the railroads.
At the end of the 60s of the last century, the track was reduced to 1520 mm. This was done for ease of calculation. Today, transport routes with 1520 and 1524 mm gauges rank second in the world in terms of the length of roads (their total duration).
The width of the railway track in Russia and Europe was taken as the standard at different times. For what reasons the regions did not come to a common indicator, it is not known for certain.
Russian subways
The railway gauge in Russia in all subways is the same as on most of the country's railways. This also applies to all countries. CIS. Tram lines in Russia have a similar distance between the rails - 1520 mm. There are several cities that differ in this regard. In Rostov-on-Don, for example, a European gauge has been laid. Its width is 1435 mm. In some Russian subjects and settlements of the CIS, a narrow gauge of 1000 mm is used for the movement of trams. These are cities such as Kaliningrad (Russia), Pyatigorsk (Russia), Lvov (Ukraine), Zhitomir (Ukraine), Vinnitsa (Ukraine) and others.
Countries with Russian gauge
The track width with indicators of 1520 and 1524 mm takes place in a number of states. Basically, these are the countries of the former USSR and bordering on it: Finland, Mongolia, Afghanistan. Of course, this does not mean that other gauges are not used there.
There are options when several railroad tracks are used, the width of which differs from the accepted standard. For example, in Bulgaria there is a small section of the road in Varna at the ferry crossing. In Germany - in the port of Sassnitz. The railway gauge in China at the border crossings with Russia also has an appropriate size. In North Korea, in 2011, a section was restored at the Khasan-Tumangan border crossing. Romania has a line that connects the metallurgical plant and Moldova. There are also such shortcuts in Slovakia, Sweden, Iran.
Despite the fact that the railway gauge in Europe differs from our parameters, sections with the Russian gauge allow you to save money with frequent transportation of goods from factories, combines and with largestable passenger flow.
Narrow gauge application
When they were just starting to lay rails, a road with a gauge of 590 mm appeared in England. Then such a railway track was laid in France, Belgium, Scandinavian countries. Russia also introduced a narrow gauge railway (in 1871).
Some countries still use these roads. So, for example, in the Cape Colony their length is so great (112 thousand kilometers) that they remained unchanged. The road is called the Cape Gauge, its width is 1067 mm.
South Africa and central Africa, the Philippines, New Zealand, parts of Japan and Australia also have such narrow railways. The width of the railway track on Sakhalin also had a size of 1067 mm. Since 2004, Russian Railways has been reconstructing to increase the volume of freight traffic.
Japan builds high-speed trains with 1435 mm rail spacing.
The railway gauge in Russia on the border with Poland and to Kaliningrad is the same. Now there are several such tracks at the South Station of this city.
In the USSR, a 750 mm gauge was also used. These paths were the second most popular and were used until 1980. Currently, they have either been altered to the generally accepted standard, or simply closed.
Some European countries used 1000mm tracks.
Disadvantages of narrow gauge railways
Narrow gauge has always been chosen for reasons of economy. Only light trains could move freely along them. This iscontributed to the reduction in the cost of the construction of railway canvases. Calculations showed that the Festignog road would cost three times as much if it had a normal gauge.
Unfortunately, this width did not allow to satisfy all needs. At the end of the 19th century, countries began to actively switch to large sizes.
Despite the confidence of the supporters of the narrow gauge railway and their desire to prove the expediency and practicality of such canvases, these views were not accepted by the majority. And 1435 mm tracks were spreading at great speed on roads of various significance.
Narrow gauges are now used for industrial transportation within large factories and combines, for tourist routes, in mines, on some lines within the country for the transport of passengers.
Some statistics and curiosities
Roads with a gauge of 1435 mm are the most common. Their share is 75% of all railway lines. Wider ones vary within 11%, and narrow-gauge - 14%.
The length of railway tracks around the world is 1.2 million km. Most roads are laid in the USA (almost 240 thousand km). In second place is Canada (90 thousand km). The third place belongs to Russia (86 thousand km).
The narrowest gauge (0 mm) can boast of a part of the railway in Germany, where a single rail was used. This path was experimental.
The widest railway track gauge (3000 mm) was proposed by Hitler's General Staff in order to export raw materials and materials from occupied Ukraine and other European countries. The victory over the Nazis made this plan impossible. Three-meter railway gauge in Ukraine remained only on paper.
Most common gauges
| Track width (mm) | Length (km) | Road name | Countries where used |
| 1676 | 42300 | Indian | India, Chile, Pakistan, Argentina |
| 1668 | 14300 | Iberian | Spain and Portugal |
| 1600 | 9800 | Irish | Ireland, Brazil and Australia (partial) |
| 1524 | 7000 | Russian | Estonia and Finland |
| 1520 | 220000 | Russian | in CIS countries, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Mongolia (partly) |
| 1435 | 720000 | European | Europe, Canada, USA, China, Australia, Korea, North Africa, Middle East, Cuba, Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay |
| 1067 | 112000 | Cape | South Africa, Central Africa, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Sakhalin (Russia) |
| 1000 | 95000 | Meter | Asia (South East), India, Bolivia, Brazil, Uganda, Chile, Kenya |
Difficulties in using gauges with different gauges
The use of canvases with different track gauges in different countries of the world creates a number of inconveniences when transporting goods and passengers. At the “meeting” place of such paths, people have to be transplanted(move goods). The technology of rearranging wagons to other bogies is also used.
The width of the railway track in Russia and Europe differs by 85 mm. Therefore, all border crossings are associated with additional difficulties. The most used standards are the European and Russian gauges.
The largest number of connecting points (15) is concentrated in the border areas with Ukraine. These are nodes in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Railway track gauge in Russia and Ukraine is the same. However, all wagons have to be rearranged. This operation takes at least two hours for passenger transport. Freight trains can queue for weeks to make a shift.
As far back as 1968, the technology of automatic gauge change was developed. This happens at low speed without the participation of railway workers.
Of course, given all these factors, many prefer to ship their goods by sea. The B altic ports are fully loaded. Representatives of European railway companies and the leadership of the Russian railway are constantly discussing the possibility of improving the connection of tracks in automatic mode.
