Break-of-gauge
With railways, a break-of-gauge is where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge.
Trains and
rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded. Either way, a break-of-gauge adds delays, cost and inconvenience to traffic that must pass from one gauge to another.
Encyclopedia
With railways, a
break-of-gauge is where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge.
Trains and
rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded. Either way, a break-of-gauge adds delays, cost and inconvenience to traffic that must pass from one gauge to another.
Inconvenience
Transloading of freight from cars of one gauge to cars of another is very labour intensive, and increases the risk of damage to goods. If the capacity of freight cars on each system does not match, additional inefficiencies arise. Technical solutions to avoid transloading include variable gauge axles, replacing the trucks of cars, and the use of
transporter cars that can carry a car of a different gauge.
Between standard gauge and
broad gauges or standard gauge and
narrow gauges
axles or
bogies are exchanged at break-of-gauge points. This happens in
Argentina, on the Spanish border and the Russian borders.
Talgo and
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles have developed dual gauge axles which permit through running.
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.
Another form of break-of-gauge occurs where there is a difference in
loading gauge between railroads. This is the case between Great Britain and continental Europe. Since the British loading gauge is much smaller, European-sized cars cannot enter most of the British rail network, even though the rail gauge is the same. So British
rail cars go, by
train ferry or the
Channel Tunnel to the continent and are loaded there, instead of the French cars traveling into the UK.
Major breaks of gauge
Major breaks of gauge between large systems include:
Africa
- many missing links where railways between and within countries do not link up.
- rail lines links by ferries on convenient rivers or lakes. See portage railways.
- countless potential break-of-gauge stations where missing links to be completed.
Asia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh has decided to resolve most of its break of gauge problem by adding a third rail to most of its broad and narrow gauge tracks so as to convert them to
dual gauge.
China
China on one hand,
Mongolia and
Russia on the other.
China ,
VietnamIndia
India has decided that towns on the narrow gauge system get a second class service, and has decided to convert a significant proportion of the narrow gauge system to broad gauge.
Iran
Iran with its standard gauge has break-of-gauge services at the borders to
Azerbaijan and
Turkmenistan, and will soon have a new break-of-gauge with
Pakistan.
Thailand
Several countries bordering
Thailand use metre gauge track, but there are missing links between Thailand and Vietnam via
Cambodia.
Vietnam
Australia
- Queensland and New South Wales
- New South Wales and Victoria
- Southern South Australia uses broad gauge the same as Victoria. Northern South Australia had a number of narrow gauge 1067 mm lines, leading to several break-of-gauge stations at various times including Hamley Bridge, Terowie, Peterborough, Gladstone and Port Pirie.
- In the latter part of the 20th century, all mainland capital cities were connected to a standard gauge network, leading to more breaks of gauge in states where this is not the norm.
- Perth's railway system is narrow gauge , while the Indian Pacific is standard gauge. The line between East Perth and Midland, the eastern suburban terminus, and inland to the major rail junction at Northam is dual gauge. All rail after this is standard gauge.
Europe
...
and
Haparanda. Railway ferries between Finland and Sweden or Germany.
North America
- The United States of America had broad, narrow and standard gauge tracks in the 19th Century, but is now almost entirely 1435 mm. Similarly the adjacent countries of Canada and Mexico.
Minor breaks of gauge
Wherever there are narrow gauge lines that connect with a standard gauge line, there's technically a break-of-gauge. However, 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 mountain railways.
Also, the line between Finland and Russia has a minor break-of-gauge. Finnish gauge is 1524 mm and Russian 1520 mm, but this does not stop through-running.
A minor break-of-gauge could be operationally avoided by placing it at the point where a cargo must be removed from cars anyway. An example of this would be the
East Broad Top Railroad which had a coal wash and preparation plant located at their break-of-gauge in Mount Union in the United States of America. The coal would be unloaded from the
narrow gauge cars of the EBT, but after processing were loaded into the standard gauge cars of the
Pennsylvania Railroad.
A break-of-gauge between Mexico and
Guatemala is currently closed.
See also
Other issues
While track gauge is the most important factor preventing through running between adjacent systems, other issues can also be a hindrance, including
loading gauge,
couplings,
brakes,
electrification,
signalling systems, rules and regulations and language.
