Variable gauge axles

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Variable gauge axles are axles that allow railway vehicles to pass from tracks of one rail gauge to a different gauge. Variable gauge axles are used to allow the running of trains between Spain and France, Europe and Russia, Kazakhstan and China, and Mongolia and China.

There are several alternatives to such a system including transferring the cargo, replacing the wheels and axles, replacing entire bogies and use of transporter wagons.

1 Overview
- 1.1 Canada
2 Timeline
- 2.1 2004
- 2.2 2003
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Overview

Variable gauge axles help solve the problem of a break of gauge without having to resort to dual gauge tracks or transshipment.

There are several variable gauge axle systems:

That of the Talgo-RD. This system dates from 1968 and is patented.
- The Talgo system has been in revenue service in Portbou at the Spanish-French border since 1968
- The Talgo system has been in revenue service in Irun at the Spanish-French border since 1968
That of CAF-BRAVA
- The CAF system was originally designed in 1968 by the Vevey Company (since absorbed by Bombardier Transportation), a company located in the city of Vevey on Lake Geneva, in Switzerland and was originally called the "Vevey axle" ^[1]. The design was subsequently obtained and improved by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
That of DB Cargo-Knorr-Bremse. ^[2] being developed in 2002 for use between Europe and Russia.
That of DBAG-Rafil Type V for freight. ^[3]
That of Japan Railways hoping to include motorised axles. ^[4]

[edit] Canada

Variable gauge axles were used for a while in 19th century Canada but proved unreliable.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Timeline

[edit] 2004

In February 2004, RENFE placed orders for:

Forty-five CAF/Alstom 25 kV AC/3 kV DC, variable gauge EMUs for 250 km/h regional services, between October 2006 and May 2009 (€580 million)
Twenty-six 25 kV AC variable gauge trains for 250 km/h long-distance services using two Bombardier power cars and Talgo Series VII trailer cars (€370 million) [3]

[edit] 2003

Since 14 December, VGA trains were introduced between Krakow and Kiev in lieu of bogie exchange. ^[5] VGA saves about 3 hours compared to bogie exchange. Gauges involved are 1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in) and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11⅞ in).