Metre-gauge railway

Metre-gauge railways (US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) or 1 metre.[1]

Track gauge
By transport mode
  • Tram
  • Rapid transit
By size (list)
Graphic list of track gauges
Minimum
  Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
 
  • 600 mm
  • Two foot
  • Two foot three inch
  • 600 mm
  • 610 mm
  • 686 mm
  • (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
  • (2 ft)
  • (2 ft 3 in)
 
  • 750 mm
  • 760 mm
  • 762 mm
  • (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • (2 ft 6 in)
 
  • 891 mm
  • 900 mm
  • 914 mm
  • 950 mm
  • (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
  • (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
  • (3 ft)
  • (3 ft1+13⁄32 in)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
  Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Four foot 1,219 mm (4 ft)
  Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  1432 mm 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Broad
 
  • 1,445 mm
  • 1,450 mm
  • (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in)
  • (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)
  Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
  Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)
 
  • 1,520 mm
  • 1,524 mm
  • (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft)
 
  • 1,581 mm
  • 1,588 mm
  • 1,600 mm
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
  • (5 ft 3 in)
  Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
 
  • 1,668 mm
  • 1,676 mm
  • (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft 6 in)
  Six foot 1,829 mm (6 ft)
  Brunel 2,140 mm (7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Change of gauge
By location
World map, rail gauge by region

Metre gauge is used in around 95,000 kilometres (59,000 mi) of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and Germany in their colonies. In Europe, large metre-gauge networks remain in use in Switzerland, Spain and many European towns with urban trams, but most metre-gauge local railways in France, Germany and Belgium closed down in the mid-20th century, although some still remain. With the revival of urban rail transport, metre-gauge light metros were built in some cities. The slightly-wider 1,009 mm (3 ft 3+23⁄32 in) gauge is used in Sofia. Another similar gauge is 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm).

Examples of metre-gauge
Country/territory Railway
Argentina 11,080 km (6,880 mi)

Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano

Austria
  • Innsbruck Tramway (operating)
  • Gmunden Tramway (operating)
  • Stubaitalbahn (operating)
  • Achenseebahn (operating)
Bangladesh 1,830 km (1,140 mi), out of which 365 km (227 mi) are dual gauge with 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) gauge
Belgium
Benin 578 km (359 mi)
  • National rail network.
Bolivia 3,600 km (2,200 mi)
  • National rail network.
Brazil

23,489 km (14,595 mi)

  • Mostly in cargo railways, including E.F Vitoria-Minas Passenger/Cargo Line and R.R. (operating)
  • Fortaleza Metro (operating)
  • Teresina Metro (operating)
Bulgaria 154 km (96 mi) of 1,009 mm (3 ft 3+23⁄32 in) gauge
Burkina Faso
  • Abidjan-Ouagadougou railway (operating)
Burma 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) 160 kilometres (99 mi)
  • Burmese railways, except for the Burma Mines Railway.
Cambodia 612 km (380 mi)
Cameroon 1,104 km (686 mi)
Chile 2,923 km (1,816 mi)
China
  • Kunhe Railway (formerly the Yunnan–Vietnam Railway) (operating).
Croatia
Czech Republic Like other Sudeten cities, the trams of Liberec used metre gauge in the past. All lines however have been rebuilt to standard gauge.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Several metre gauge railways
Denmark

A few local railways. Only one remains, but regauged to standard gauge.

  • Århus tramway (closed), Danish Tramway Museum.
Egypt
  • Cairo tram (ceased operations)
Finland
France Historically used in many local and regional railways, only a few of which remain today.
Germany
Greece The Piraeus, Athens and Peloponnese Railways used to be the largest metre-gauge network in Europe but are now largely abandoned. Only the suburban rail service of Patras, and the Olympia–Katakolo tourist railway still use the network.
Hungary
  • Szombathely tram (1897-1974)
  • Sopron tram (1900-1923)
  • Borsodnádasd record factory (defunct)
India Nilgiri Mountain Railway (operating)

Mailani - Nanpara Railway (operating)

Iraq Mesopotamian Railways
Israel Sections of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) railways, later converted to 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in) or 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge
Italy
Ivory Coast
  • Abidjan-Ouagadougou railway (operating)
Kenya
Uganda
  • Metre gauge link from Malaba to Tororo (operating)
  • Metre gauge link from Tororo - Gulu - Pakwach to Tororo (under rehabilitation)
Laos A 3.5 km extension of the metre-gauge State Railway of Thailand network across the border into Laos
Latvia Liepāja tramway (operating)
Madagascar 875 km (544 mi). There are two unconnected systems operated by Madarail
Malaysia
Mali

641 km (398 mi) Dakar–Niger Railway

Malta Malta Railway
Morocco Several industrial railways in former Spanish Morocco
New Zealand Wellington Cable Car (operating)
Norway
  • Trondheim Tramway (operating)
  • Fløibanen (operating)
  • Thamshavn Line (operating as a museum railway)
Pakistan
  • Mirpur Khas–Nawabshah Railway (defunct)
  • One section of Hyderabad–Khokhrapar Branch Line (converted to broad gauge)
Poland
  • Trams in Bydgoszcz (operating)
  • Trams in Toruń (operating)
    • there are plans to interconnect both cities' systems
  • Trams in Elbląg (operating)
  • Tramways in Grudziądz (operating)
  • Trams in Łódź (including suburban lines) (operating)
  • Trams in Olsztyn (defunct 1965, newly-built system in 2015 is standard gauge)
  • Gryficka Kolej Wąskotorowa (operating as a tourist railway)
  • Koszalińska Kolej Wąskotorowa (operating as a tourist railway)
  • Piaseczyńska Kolej Wąskotorowa (operating as a tourist railway)
Portugal Several mainly mountainous branch lines, mostly abandoned in the 1990s, never fully interconnected — connected to the REFER network by means of shared stations and some dual-gauge stretches. Metro de Mirandela and Vouga line remain in use. Other metric networks include Funchal rack railway (defunct in 1943), Coimbra trams (defunct in 1980), and Sintra trams.
Puerto Rico Full network of Puerto Rican 1000mm railways in 1920: 654 km (406 mi)[2]
  • American Railroad Company – 417 km (259 mi), (1891-c.1957) (defunct). After 1957, some tracks of American Railroad Company were acquired by Land Authority of Puerto Rico for sugar cane hauling: the Arecibo network (Central Cambalache: 1957-1981) (defunct) and the Aguada-Mayagüez line (Central Coloso: 1957-c.1970) (defunct)
  • Fajardo Development Company – 59.9 km (37.2 mi) for sugar cane hauling between Carolina to Naguabo in eastern Puerto Rico (1902-1977) (defunct)[3]
  • Ferrocarril Histórico de Puerto Rico, Fajardo – 7.4 km (4.6 mi) tracks of Central Fajardo Railroad from Fajardo outskirts to El Yunque foothills used as right-of-way for this heritage railroad since 1971. Destroyed by Fajardo River flooding in 1974 (defunct)[4]
  • Ponce and Guayama Railroad – 97 km (60 mi) for sugar cane hauling between Ponce to Arroyo in southern Puerto Rico (1904-1990) (defunct)
  • Train of the South – 6.4 km (4.0 mi) tracks of Ponce and Guayama Railroad from Guayama to Arroyo used as right-of-way for this heritage railroad between 1984-1988 and reused between 1996-2005 (defunct)
  • Caguas Tramway (Río Piedras-Caguas Railway) – 28 km (17 mi) (1908-1928) (defunct)
  • Mayagüez Tramway (1915-1927) (defunct)
  • Ponce Tramway (1902-1927) (defunct)
Romania
Russia
Senegal Dakar–Niger Railway – 1,287 km (800 mi)
Serbia Belgrade Tram (operating)
Singapore Singapore span of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (Malayan Railway) for shuttle service.
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden Skansens bergbana (operating)
Switzerland Many narrow-gauge railways: suburban railways, mountain railways, rack railways, some long-distance railways and trams.
  • Albula Railway and Bernina railway (crosses into) Italy). These railways share UNESCO World Heritage Site status as part of the Rhaetian Railway (operating)
  • Appenzell–St. Gallen–Trogen railway, Altstätten–Gais railway line, Gossau–Wasserauen railway line, runs in the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden (operating)
  • Dolderbahn, Funicular railway in Zurich converted into a rack railway and extended in the early 1970s. (operating)
  • Forchbahn, runs as a tram in Zürich city and as a train outside the city (operating)
  • Zentralbahn, merged with Luzern Stans Engelbergbahn, Brünigbahn and Meiringen Innertkirchen Bahn (operating)
  • Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, (operating)
  • Chemins de fer du Jura, (operating)
  • La Chaux-de-Fonds–Glovelier line, (operating)
  • La Chaux-de-Fonds–Les Ponts-de-Martel railway, (operating)
  • Saignelégier–La Chaux-de-Fonds Railway, (operating)
  • Le Locle–Les Brenets line, (operating)
  • Trams in Neuchâtel, (operating)
  • Centovalli railway, (operating)
  • Lugano–Ponte Tresa Railway, (operating)
  • Martigny–Châtelard Railway, (operating)
  • Chemin de fer Nyon-St-Cergue-Morez, (operating)
  • Chemin de fer Bière-Apples-Morges, (operating)
  • Chemin de fer Yverdon–Ste-Croix, (operating)
  • Chemin de fer Lausanne–Echallens–Bercher, (operating)
  • Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line, (operating)
  • Transports Publics du Chablais, (operating)
  • Frauenfeld-Wil-Bahn, (operating)
  • Regionalverkehr Bern-Solothurn, (operating)
  • Biel–Täuffelen–Ins railway, (operating)
  • Trams in Basel, (operating)
  • Baselland Transport, (operating)
  • Trams in Bern, (operating)
  • Trams in Geneva, (operating)
  • Berner Oberlandbahn, (operating)
  • Montreux–Glion–Rochers-de-Naye railway line, (operating)
  • Montreux–Lenk im Simmental line, (operating)
  • Gornergratbahn, (operating)
  • Trams in Zürich, trams in Zürich city and Glattal (operating)
  • List of narrow-gauge railways in Switzerland
Tanzania Tanzania Railways Corporation – about 2,600 km (1,600 mi) (break of gauge with 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) TAZARA Railway)
Thailand State Railway of Thailand, 4,346 km (2,700 mi).
Togo 568 km (353 mi).
Tunisia 1,674 km (1,040 mi) used along with standard gauge (471 km (293 mi))
Turkey
Uganda Uganda Railway run by Uganda Railways Corporation
Ukraine
  • Lviv tram (operating)
  • Vinnytsia Tramway (operating)
  • Zhytomyr tram (operating)
United Kingdom
  • Waltham Iron Ore Tramway
  • Wellingborough Tramway
  • Davington Light Railway
  • Crich Tramway (apparently the first metre-gauge railway in the world)
  • Butts Tramway, Butts Extension Tramway, Lindal Moor Tramway, Eure Pits Tramway (coherent group of lines serving iron ore mines near Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, built 1849–1862)
United States
Vietnam Vietnam Railways and KunHe Railway

See also
  • Italian metre gauge
  • Narrow-gauge railways

References
  1. Raja, K. "Complete information on Railway Gauges". Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  2. «Los ferrocarriles de uso público en Puerto Rico (1870-1990)», Antonio Santamaría García (1994). Revista Complutense de Historia de América XX: pp. 207-228
  3. Contexto histórico e inventario del ferrocarril en Puerto Rico, 1850-1953 - Primera parte: Trasfondo histórico
  4. «Conservando una Romántica Tradición», Dave Deyo, Railroading, Number 43, Second Quarter (1972): pp. 6-18]
  5. Brandon, Andrew. "The Sierra Lumber Company". Pacific Narrow Gauge.
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