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A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson ), international gauge , UIC gauge , uniform gauge , normal gauge in Europe, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ] and SGR in East Africa.
Standard gauge is defined both in metric and in imperial units. It is also the best-known gauge worldwide; 55% of the world uses this track. In 2020, China’s rail network is standard gauge, with around 79,685 km (49,514 mi) of line.
- History
- Freight
- Differences Between Countries
- Cross-Border Operation
- Subsidies
- Harmonizing Rules
- See Also
- External Links
Europe was the epicenter of rail transport and has today one of the densest networks. Interoperability and high speed rail in Europeare current issues.
Overview
Overall only about 18% of European cargo moves by railway; in some countries, such as France, the percentage is much lower, but it is much higher in other countries, including Lithuania where over 70% of domestic cargo is transported by train. The relative weakness of rail freight is due to the lower price of truck transport which externalizes a larger share of costs than rail, as well as the high usage of coastal and inland shipping. By way of comparison, in the U.S., 38% of cargo (by ton-ki...
Impediments to trans-European freight trains
A big problem for long-distance international freight services – despite the European Single Market allowing freedom of movement of goods, capital, labor and people and the Schengen area drastically reducing internal border controls – is the variety of differing standards for electrification, loading gauge, signaling, driver certificates and even gauge. Finland (Russian gauge), Portugal and Spain (Iberian gauge) use their own broad gauges, as do the Baltic States and several non-EU members (m...
Couplers and automation
Another problem is that unlike aviation, where Aviation English is a de facto global standard with few non-English holdouts, rail operations virtually always use the local language, requiring train operators either to be polyglots or necessitating a change of staff at every (language) border. Another impediment to freight rail in Europe is the coupling system commonly used. While the Scharfenberg coupler, a mostly automatic system, is now commonly used on passenger trains, its relatively low...
The 2017 European Railway Performance Index ranked the performance of national rail systems as follows: 1. Tier One: Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and France. 2. Tier Two: Great Britain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, the Czech Republic, Norway, Belgium, and Italy. 3. Tier Three: Lithuania, Slovenia, Ireland, Hungary...
The main international trains operating in Europe are: 1. Enterprise(Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland (UK)) 2. Eurostar(United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany) 3. EuroCity/EuroNight(conventional trains operated by nearly all Western and Central European operators, with the notable exception of the UK and Ireland) 4. Nightjet(Au...
EU rail subsidies amounted to €73 billion in 2005. Subsidies vary widely from country to country in both size and how they are distributed, with some countries giving direct grants to the infrastructure provider and some giving subsidies to train operating companies, often through public service obligations. In general long-distance trains are not ...
Sep 10, 2024 · The standard gauge on the European railway network is 1 435 mm, displayed as green lines in Map 4 below. The main railway lines in Europe, including all dedicated high-speed railway lines, use this standard gauge. Some countries in Europe operate lines with a large track gauge.
Although numerous gauges are being used worldwide, six major gauges dominate the global rail systems, with the Standard Gauge (1435 mm) being the most common. Several countries have more than one gauge, but the above map depicts the most prevalent lengthwise.
Feb 25, 2021 · Standard Gauge: Familiar to millions (if not billions) of railfans and rail users across the globe, Standard Gauge is that used by some of the first and more prolific builders of railways. The UK, USA, China, Australia and most of Europe use this 1435mm wide track (still defined as 4 ft 8 1/2 inches wide and therefore 1435.1mm in some places).
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Jul 22, 2024 · Most railways in Europe use the standard gauge of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). Some countries use broad gauge, of which there are three types. Narrow gauges are also in use.
