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In railway terminology, Russian gauge refers to railway track with a gauge between 1,520 mm and 1,524 mm (5 ft) .[1] In a narrow sense as defined by Russian Railways it refers to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) gauge.[2]
The primary installed base of Russian gauge is across the states of the former Soviet Union (CIS states, Baltic states and Georgia), also Mongolia and Finland, representing ca. 225,000 km (140,000 mi) of track. The Russian gauge is the second most widely used gauge in the world—after 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge).[3] Comparatively short sections of Russian-gauge railways also extend beyond the borders of the former USSR into Poland, eastern Slovakia, Sweden (at the Finnish border at Haparanda), and northern Afghanistan.[4]
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1,524 mm (5 ft) was approved as the new standard on September 12, 1842.
The selection process for the gauge was undertaken chiefly by Colonel Pavel Petrovich Melnikov (1804–1880). Probably, a combination of the following arguments was used:
In the 19th century, Imperial Russia chose a gauge broader than standard gauge. It is widely believed that the choice was made for military reasons, to prevent potential invaders from using the Russian rail system. Others point out that no clear standard had emerged by 1842.
Engineer Pavel Melnikov hired George Washington Whistler, a prominent American railway engineer (and father of the artist James McNeill Whistler), to be a consultant on the building of Russia's first major railway, the Moscow – Saint Petersburg line. The selection of 1,500 mm (4 ft 11 1⁄16 in) gauge was recommended by German and Austrian engineers but not adopted: it was not the same as the 1,524 mm (5 ft) gauge in common use in the southern United States at the time.
George Washington Whistler was invited as a foreign expert to assist in railway construction. He was a proponent of a wider gauge and his efforts helped in lobbying the new standard. It is quite likely that an "invasion" argument (alleging that it is easier to adapt trains to narrow gauge than to broad gauge) was used in lobbying the project since military was closely supervising the construction; however, it is highly unlikely that such an argument was made by Melnikov during the actual selection process. Nazi Germany suffered such problems with their supply lines during World War II as a result of the break-of-gauge, but also because bridges had been destroyed.
Besides using the 5-foot gauge within Russian Empire, Russian engineers used it on the Chinese Eastern Railway, which was built in the closing years of the 19th across the Northeastern China entry to provide a shortcut for the Transsiberian Railway to Vladivostok. The Chinese Eastern Railway's southern branch, from Harbin via Changchun to Lüshun used the Russian gauge as well, but as a result of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 its southernmost section (from Changchun to Lüshun) was lost to the Japanese, who promptly regauged it to standard gauge (after using the narrow Japanese gauge for a short time during the war).[5] This formed a break of gauge between Changchun and Kuancheng (the station just to the north of Changchun, still in Russian hands),[6] until the rest of the former Chinese Eastern Railway was converted to standard gauge, too (in the 1930s?).
Unlike the South Manchurian situation, the Soviet Union's reconquest of southern Sakhalin from Japan did not result in regauging of the island's railway system. The railway system of the entire Island have continued to operate on the original Japanese 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge. The island's railway system has no fixed connection with the mainland, and the rail cars coming from the mainland's port of Vanino on the train ferry (operating since 1973) have their bogies changed in the Sakhalin port of Kholmsk.[7] In 2004, and then again in 2008, plans were put forward to convert the island's system to Russian gauge. The estimated completion date now is 2030.[8]
Now Russia and most of the former Russian Empire (including the Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasian and Central Asian republics) as well as Soviet-influenced Mongolia, have the Russian gauge of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in), 4 mm (5⁄32 in) narrower than 1,524 mm (5 ft) , though rolling stock of both gauges is interchangeable in practice. The railways of Finland, from 1809 till 1917 a Russian Grand Duchy, retain the nominal 1524 mm gauge, with a short section of dual 1524/1435 gauge running into Haparanda in Sweden.
There are proposals for plans for north-south and east-west lines in Afghanistan, with construction to commence in 2013, to be built to the 1520 mm gauge
Although broad gauge was and is quite rare on lighter railways and street tramways, many tramways in ex-USSR were and are also built to broad gauge (according to terminology in use in these countries, gauges narrower than 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) are considered to be narrow).
The former Soviet Union is today the largest operator of first generation tramways in the world, and has been for many years. The Saint Petersburg, Russia, tramway network is entirely broad gauge, with some of the world's widest trams, and indeed the widest in Europe (European trams are generally narrower than European buses and trains and also tramcars elsewhere such as America and Australia). The Riga tramway is also built to the broad gauge.
Helsinki Metro underground urban transport system uses the standard Finnish 1,524 mm (5 ft) gauge.
In the late 1960s the gauge was redefined to 1520 mm in the Soviet Union.[3] At the same time the tolerances were lessened to increase speed.
In Finland Finnish State Railways kept the original definition of 1524 mm, even though they also have lessened the tolerances in a similar way.
Estonia after independence redefined to 1524 mm.
The redefinitions did not mean that a lot of actual railways or rolling stock were changed. It was more a rule change regarding new and renovated tracks.
The railways have a fault tolerance regarding the real gauge. Finland allows their railways to be between 1514–1554 mm (less tolerance for higher speed).[9]
This means that, on the condition that the gauge of the rolling stock is kept with certain limits, through running between 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) railways and Finnish 1,524 mm (5 ft) railways is allowed. Since both 1520 and 1524 are well within tolerances, the difference can be said to be mostly a paper difference.
The new Sm6 high-speed train is specified for a 1522 mm gauge.[10] High-speed trains have less tolerances against gauge error, but this way through running works well.
The Panama Railway was originally 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad gauge. When the railway was rebuilt in 2000, the gauge was changed to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) so as to use standard gauge equipment. The original gauge was chosen under the influence of the pre-conversion southern United States railway companies.
The most western of Russian gauge railway in Europe is the Polish LHS (Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa) that leads from the Ukrainian border to the easternmost end of the Silesian conurbation.
| Country/region | Notes |
|---|---|
| Afghanistan | also: 2140 mm and 1676 mm (Indian gauge) |
| Finland | |
| Sweden | Only a small freight yard in Haparanda. Used for exchanging cargo with Finnish trains. |
| United States | The South (except in Florida, which used 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm) Scotch gauge) - prior to and after the Civil War. |
| Panama | Panama Railway prior to conversion to standard gauge in 2000 to suit off-the-shelf supply. |
| Former Soviet Union | Prior to narrowing the gauge on the paper by 4 mm to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) and narrowing the tolerances; the railways and the rolling stock were adjusted only when needed or upgraded |
| Country/region | Notes |
|---|---|
| Armenia | |
| Azerbaijan | |
| Belarus | |
| Bulgaria | Only at Varna ferry terminal for train ferries to Odessa and Poti; equipped with dual gauge tracks for changing waggon bogies with standard gauge ones, and parallel transloading tracks of 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) and 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) gauges. |
| Estonia | |
| Georgia | |
| Germany | Only at Sassnitz/Mukran ferry terminal for freight train ferries to Turku, Klaipėda and Baltijsk. |
| Hong Kong | Peak Tram |
| Kazakhstan | |
| Kyrgyzstan | |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania | |
| Moldova | |
| Mongolia | |
| Poland | Almost exclusively on one line, see Broad Gauge Metallurgy Line |
| Russia | |
| Slovakia | Only on one line ("Širokorozchodná trať" (Uzhhorod -)Maťovce - Haniska pri Košiciach) and from the border station of Dobrá pri Čiernej nad Tisou to Ukraine, both operated by ZSSK Cargo. In 2008, the 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) gauge was also proposed for a new rail line from the Ukrainian border to Bratislava,[11] eventually as far to Vienna. |
| Tajikistan | |
| Turkmenistan | |
| Ukraine | |
| Uzbekistan |
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