 New Brunswick Railway used Cape gauge until the 1880s when it was acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway

way after which standard gauge

prevailed. A number of 3ft 0in (914 mm) narrow gauge mining and logging railways were built in the mountains and islands of British
Columbia including the Kaslo & Slocan Railway in the late 19th century but have since been converted to standard gauge or abandoned.
 The 3ft 0in (914 mm) White Pass and Yukon Railroad, which was completed in 1900 at the end of the Klondike gold rush is Canada's last
remaining narrow gauge carrier. It no longer carries freight, but is the busiest tourist railroad in North America. Its tracks connect to no
other railroad but do connect to the cruise ship docks at Skagway, Alaska, which provide it with most of its passengers.

New Zealand

New Zealand adopted narrow gauge 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) due to the need of cross-mountainous terrain in the country's interior. This terrain has
necessitated a number of complicated engineering feats, notably the Raurimu Spiral. There are 1787 bridges and 150 tunnels in less than 4,000 km of
track, around 500 km of which is electrified.

Caribbean:
Haiti

Haiti has had two different gauges on its railroads. 130 km of rural line between Port-au-Prince, Saint-Marc, and Verrettes (1905–about 1960s) used
3 ft (914 mm) gauge. Tramlines in Port-au-Prince (1878–1888 and 1896–1932), which was the first known track in Haiti, and a total of 80 km of
rural line west to Léogâne and east to Manneville (1896–1950s(?)) used 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge. Totalling over 100 km of track, the plantation
railroads in the north and north-east most likely used 2 ft 6 in (762 mm). There were at least four separate isolated lines. The story of the demise of
one Haitian railroad is that it was sold and physically picked up, put on ships and sent off to Asia during the Papa Doc period (approx 1957–1971).
Others may have been used on the plantation tracks in the north and north-east of Haiti. The CIA fact book suggests that in the 1990s there were only
40 km of abandoned track left(!)

South America

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile have 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) gauge lines. Colombia and Peru have 914 mm gauge lines.

6.5 Dual gauge

Dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway is a special configuration of railway track, allowing trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally
dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and
the inner rail give a narrower gauge. Thus one of the three rails is common to all traffic. (This configuration is not to be confused with the electric
third-rail.)

Dual gauge allows trains of different gauges to share the same track. This can save considerable expense compared to using separate tracks for each
gauge, but introduces complexities in track maintenance and signalling, as well as requiring speed restrictions for some trains. If the difference
between the two gauges is large enough, for example between 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) and 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm), three-rail dual-gauge is possible, but if
the difference is not large enough, for example between 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) and 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in), four-rail dual-gauge is used. Dual-gauge rail lines
are used in the railway networks of Switzerland, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, North Korea, Tunisia and Vietnam.

Africa is particularly affected by gauge problems, where railways of different gauges in adjacent countries meet. Gauge rationalisation in Africa is
facilitated since four-rail dual gauge of 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) and 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) contains a hidden gauge, which can be made to be standard gauge 4
ft 8½ in (1435 mm) . The four-rail system reuses and doubles the effective strength of the old light rails, which might otherwise have only a low
value reuse as fence posts.

6.5.1 Configuration

For dual-gauge track to be achievable using three rails, the difference between the gauges needs to be at least as wide as the foot of the rail, otherwise
there is no room for the rail fastening hardware (spikes, clips, and the like). Thus standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8½ in)) and 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm) can
be dual gauged without problem, while 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) and 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) (Victorian broad gauge) can also be dual-gauged, albeit with
lighter narrow footed rails, as shown in Victoria, Australia (where the majority of the railways use the 1600 mm gauge). On the other hand, 1 m (3 ft
33⁄8 in) and 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) as found in Africa, or 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) and 3 ft (914 mm), as found in South America, are too close to be combined
into three-rail dual gauge. If three-rail dual gauge is impossible, four-rail dual gauge may be possible.

6.5.2 Gauge Conversion

The complications and difficulties outlined show how important it is to ensure that railway gauges are standardised in the first place, if at all possible.
If a railway operator seeks to convert from one gauge to another, then it helps if a dual-gauge intermediate step can be done (as done in the past). If
the gauge is to be reduced, then the sleepers can continue to protrude from the side of the rails. If the gauge is to be increased, then the sleepers used
for narrow gauge may be too short, and some at least of these 'short' sleepers will have to be replaced with longer ones. Alternatively the rails may be
too light for the loads imposed by broader-gauge railcars. Such potential problems can rule out dual-gauge as a feasible option. Another issue is
affixing the rails to the sleepers (spikes, nails or bolts are used). If existing sleepers are wooden, extra holes can be drilled without problems. If the
existing sleepers are concrete, then extra holes are impossible and the whole sleeper has to be replaced, unless extra boltholes are already allowed for.

Page 251 of 259

During the conversion of the Melbourne to Adelaide line in Australia from 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) to 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm), dual gauge with heavy rails
was not possible as the rail footings were too wide. A special gauge-convertible sleeper with a reversible chair for the Pandrol clip allowed a two-
week conversion process. In the Adelaide metropolitan area, broad-gauge timber sleepers are being replaced with gauge-convertible concrete
sleepers, in case of future gauge conversion.

During WWI and WWII, gauge conversion occurred backwards and forwards between Europe and Russia as the fronts and national borders chopped
and changed.

The dual-gauge lines in Java were regauged to Cape gauge (4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) to 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm)) during the Japanese administration in 1942-
1943. Actual regauging only occurred on the relatively short Brumbung-Kedungjati-Gundih main line and the Kedungjati-Ambarawa branch line, as
the rest of the line was already dual-gauge (some only recently dual-gauged).

6.5.3 Cost of an example

In 2005, Pakistan Railways started work on the conversion of the 128km Mirpurkhas to Khokhrapar line from 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) to 5 ft 6 in (1676
mm) gauge. The cost was set at Rs 1,800,000,000 (US$30,000,000), or about US$ 250,000 per km.

6.5.4 Examples

 In the Czech Republic, there is dual gauge (1435 mm and 760 mm) track near Jindřichův Hradec. Interestingly, the two gauges are used by
different railway companies.
 In Britain, the Great Western Railway was initially broad gauge. After the "gauge war", it was decided to regauge the GWR. As the broad
gauge was sufficiently dissimilar from standard gauge and used wooden sleepers, dual gauge was easily introduced for running new
standard-gauge traffic.
 The Metropolitan Railway, part of the London Underground system, also started out as dual-gauge; however, its current third and fourth
rails are for electricity supply, not dual gauge.
 In Ireland, dual-gauge track was not used in regauging the Ulster Railway (UR). When it regauged its double-track route from 1880 mm (6
ft 2 in) to the new standard of 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) it performed the task in two stages. The Dublin & Drogheda Railway (D&DR)
meanwhile was regauging from 1575 mm (5 ft 2 in), too similar to the new gauge to allow dual gauge. Dual gauge was used in Derry, by
the Port Authority, in an on-street network to transfer goods, on either gauge, between the city's four stations (two 3 ft (914 mm) narrow
gauge, two 5 ft 3 in broad gauge).
 In Western Australia, there is a double-track dual-gauge (3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) & 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)) main line from East Perth to
Northam, about 120 km. Dual-gauge track is also used from the triangle at Woodbridge to Cockburn Junction, then to Kwinana on one
branch, and North Fremantle on the other.
 In Brisbane, Queensland, shorter stretches of dual-gauge track (3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) & 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)) exist between the rail freight
yards at Acacia Ridge and the Port of Brisbane for freight trains. A dual-gauge line branches off at Park Road Station to run alongside
electric suburban narrow gauge CityTrain services over the Merivale Bridge into Platform 1 at Roma Street Station. This is used by
standard-gauge interstate CountryLink XPT services to Sydney.
 In Belgium, some sections of tram track in Brussels combined metre gauge for the interurban trams with standard gauge for the urban
trams. Since the closure of the former, these have been replaced with standard gauge track.
 In Stuttgart, Germany, the tram lines were 1000 mm gauge. In the 1970s it was decided to convert the streetcar system to a modern
Stadtbahn and regauge it to standard gauge to increase capacity. Inner-city tunnels replacing street-level sections in busy streets were built
with a cross-section suitable for standard-gauge cars.
 After the conversion started in 1981 with the commissioning of the first three class DT-8 Stadtbahn cars, the tunnels and all other sections
used by multiple lines were fitted with 1435 mm / 1000 mm dual-gauge track, to allow both old-style streetcars and new Stadtbahn cars to
share those sections while lines were converted one by one over the next decades. In 2006, conversion of line 15 (the last line to be
converted) was under way and expected to be complete around 2008, although some sections will retain their dual-gauge track indefinitely
as a courtesy to the streetcar museum of Stuttgart, which will operate old 1000 mm gauge streetcars on weekends and special occasions.
 In Switzerland dual gauge (standard and meter) is used in the stations at both ends of the Brünigbahn (Lucerne and Interlaken), as well as
on the RhB between Chur and Domat Ems among other places.
 In Japan, dual gauge is used when the Shinkansen system, which is standard gauge, joins the narrow-gauge (1067 mm) system, which is the
national standard. For example, part of the Ōu line became part of the Akita Shinkansen and was upgraded to dual gauge.
 In Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia), dual-gauge track was installed in 1899 between Yogyakarta and Solo. The track was owned by the
Nederlandsch-Indische Spoorweg Maatschappij, a private company, which built the 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) gauge line in 1867. The third
track was installed to allow passengers and goods travelling over the 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) gauge Staatsspoorweg (State Railway) a direct
connection without requiring transfer at both cities. Later, a separate pair of tracks was installed at the government's cost to allow greater
capacity and higher speeds.
 In 1940 a third rail was installed between Solo and Gundih on the line to Semarang, allowing 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) gauge trains to travel
between Semarang, Solo and Yogyakarta (via Gambringan, on the line to Surabaya instead of via Kedungjati on the original line).
 A short section of dual-gauge 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) and 2ft 5½in (750 mm) line existed in North Sumatra on a joint line of the Deli Railway
and the Aceh Tramway. This line survived in to the 1970s.
 Some sugar mill railways in Java also have dual-gauge sections.
 In Vietnam, there is dual gauge (meter and standard) between Hanoi and the Chinese border.
 In Sweden and Finland, there is about 4 km of dual gauge, 1435 and 1524 mm, between the railway stations in Haparanda and Tornio on
each side of the border.
 In Los Angeles the Los Angeles Railway and the Pacific Electric Railway (both defunct) ran on dual gauge track on some downtown
streets.

Page 252 of 259

6.5.5 Triple gauge

There have been a few instances of triple-gauge break-of-gauge stations:

 Port Pirie, South Australia, 1067 mm, 1435 mm, 1600 mm (3 ft 6 in (1067 mm), 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm), 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm)) (1938-1970)
 Gladstone, South Australia, 1067 mm, 1435 mm, 1600 mm (3 ft 6 in (1067 mm), 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm), 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm)) (1970-1980s)
 Peterborough, South Australia, 1067 mm, 1435 mm, 1600 mm (3 ft 6 in (1067 mm), 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm), 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm)) (1970-80s)
 Latour-de-Carol, France, 1000 mm, 1435 mm, 1668 mm (still in use)

Because these three triple-gauge examples were yards operating at low speed, light rail could be used to space the rails closely together if required.
Main line operation at high speeds is another matter.

The National Railway Museum (Port Adelaide) in Adelaide, Australia has the three main-line gauges and a 18 in (457 mm) gauge tourist line.

The Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge originally carried trains of three different gauges.

6.5.6 Accidents on dual-gauge railways

On September 9, 2004, an accident happened on a switch in Jindřichův Hradec where dual-gauge railway bifurcates. A Junák express train from
Plzeň to Brno derailed here because of a signalman's fault. He switched to the narrow-gauge track although the express train used the standard gauge
one. Only the driver of the express train was slightly injured.

6.5.7 Complexity of dual-gauge switches

Dual-gauge turnouts (also known as switches or points), where both gauges have a choice of routes, are quite complicated, with more moving parts
than single-gauge turnouts. They impose very low speed limits. If dual-gauge points are operated and detected by electrical circuits, their reliability
will be high.

Where two gauges separate (i.e. each gauge has only one route, as in the picture below), few moving parts are needed.

Figure 400: Switch - bifurcation of dual-gauge track near Jindřichův Hradec, Czech Republic.

Page 253 of 259

6.5.7.1 Paradox

If the two gauges of a dual gauge turnout are very similar and the difference between them is small, turnouts will have many small pieces that are
difficult to support and the turnout will be weak and limited in speed. Paradoxically, the larger the difference the better. The difference between the
gauges should as a rule of thumb be 50 mm greater than the width of the base of the rails.

The three most common gauges in Africa when configured as above have relatively large differences between the gauges and the turnout will be
relatively strong and its speeds will be reasonable. Conversely, the three gauges found on the borders of Afghanistan are too similar.

6.5.7.2 Gauge splitters

One way of avoiding complicated and weak dual gauge turnouts, provided there is room, is to separate the gauges and then design the yard with
single gauge turnouts and dual gauge diamond crossings.

6.5.8 Separate gauge

If dual-gauge turnouts are too slow, or too difficult because the gauges are too similar, then an option is to build two separate lines, one of each
gauge, side by side. This choice also depends on the amount of traffic. Dual-gauge could continue to be employed at an expensive bridge or tunnel.

Examples include:

 Albury, New South Wales to Melbourne, Victoria, 300 km: As the old and original broad gauge track declines in use, it is slated for
conversion to standard gauge, replacing parallel standard-gauge single track and broad-gauge double track with a double-track standard-
gauge line. This will reduce delays on the standard-gauge line at crossing loops.
 Melbourne Victoria, to Geelong, Victoria, 80 km, a single standard-gauge line parallel to double-track broad gauge.
 Yogyakarta-Solo in Java, Dutch East Indies during pre-WW II days, 58 km. This had a single 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) line paralleling a dual-
gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) and 3 ft 6 in (1067 mm) line.
 In 2005 a proposed standard gauge line connecting Iran with China via several broad gauge Central Asian countries will use a mixture of
parallel separate lines and dual gauge.
 Australia - in 1960, the Perth to Northam line was originally to be separate side-by-side narrow gauge and standard gauge lines, but it was
realised that line capacity would be much higher if it were built as double dual gauge.

6.5.9 Overlapping gauges

 Bangladesh is tackling its break of gauge problem by adding a third rail to its broad and narrow gauge lines, so that it becomes a mainly
dual-gauge system.
 The new Jamuna Bridge that links the east and west rail systems is four-rail dual gauge so that both gauges use the same centre-line. At
some stage in the future, Bangladesh may choose one gauge over the other and convert to a single gauge, but there are no immediate plans.
 Bangladesh's neighbour to the east is also 1000mm gauge, should the missing link ever be built.
 A variation of overlapping gauge is to extend a railway of one gauge into territory that is mainly of another gauge so as to avoid
transhipment of specific traffic. For example a 1524 mm gauge line from an iron ore mine in Ukraine to a steelworks in Slovakia, which
now may be extended into Austria.

6.5.10 Other methods of handling multiple gauges

Other methods of handling multiple gauges include:

 Transporters wagons or transporters trucks, which carry equipment of one gauge on the other's tracks
 Truck exchange systems, where the railroad car is lifted and the trucks/bogies under it are swapped (not suitable for four-wheel wagons).
 Adjustable gauge equipment (variable gauge axles), in which the wheel gauge can be widened or narrowed
 Transhipment; transferring goods or people from one set of railroad cars to another\

6.5.11 Dual gauge dual voltage

A mini-metro in Gijon, Spain is to be both dual gauge (1000 mm/1676 mm) and dual voltage (1500 V DC/3000 V DC). A dual-gauge track (Iberic:
1668mm-5ft6in; Standard: 1435mm-4ft8in) seen at Huesca station is the first application of the dual-gauge track tested in Olmedo in 2002. The
single-track line Huesca-Tardienta has been rebuilt to high-speed standards and electrified in 25kV-50Hz ac, all cleared for 250kph. At a first stage,
speed will be restricted to 160kph on that dual-gauge portion. One can see that the switch point is single-gauge only, for better cost-effectiveness.

Page 254 of 259

 Figure 401: Dual gauge dual voltage

Figure 402: A dual-gauge track (Iberic: 1668mm-5ft6in; Standard: 1435mm-4ft8in) seen at Huesca station

Page 255 of 259