Berne gauge
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The Berne Gauge[1] or Berne Convention Gauge is an informal but widely-used term for the railway loading gauge considered the standard gauge in continental Europe. The term arises from the international railway conference held and consequent convention signed in Berne, Switzerland in 1912. The official name of this gauge is the Gabarit passe-partout international (PPI), literally pass-everywhere international, and it came into force in 1914.
The European (Berne) loading gauge is usually 10 ft 2 in (3150 mm) wide by 10 ft 5 in (3175 mm) rising to 14 ft 0½ in (4280 mm) in the centre. This is a clearance envelope (see Loading gauge) on a curve of 250 m (820 ft 2.5 in) radius.
Previously, international through traffic, particularly freight, had been effectively constrained to vehicles and loads consistent with the standard French loading gauge, the narrowest and lowest in Mainland Europe. As a result of accepting the convention the French embarked on a period of progressive upgrade to make their network compliant.
Even after adopting the convention, significant parts of the European network operated to larger gauges, thus limiting the passing of traffic out of such areas.
The Berne Gauge is larger than the British loading gauge, and this restricted the travel in Britain of the Eurotunnel Class 9 locomotives used on the Channel Tunnel. Originally they could not go by rail for maintenance to the Brush Works at Loughborough of Brush Traction, where they were built. In the 1890s, the Great Central Railway built its new main line to the Berne gauge, in anticipation of a connection with a planned Channel Tunnel.
[edit] References
- ^ Berne and all that, G Hafter, Modern Railways, April 1992
