What gauge are Swiss railways?

The rail network of Switzerland is one of the densest and spectacular in the world. It covers a total length of 5063 km of lines with 3652 km on international gauge 1435 mm, 1312 km on metre gauge and 68.5 km of 800 mm or 750 mm gauge.



The Swiss railway network is a diverse "dual-gauge" system, but the Standard Gauge (1,435 mm) is used for approximately 72% of the lines. This international standard gauge allows Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to seamlessly connect with neighbors like France, Germany, and Italy. However, Switzerland is also world-famous for its extensive Metre Gauge (1,000 mm) network, which makes up about 26% of the tracks. These narrow-gauge lines, such as the Rhaetian Railway and the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn, are essential for navigating the steep gradients and tight curves of the Alps. In a revolutionary technological feat in late 2022 and continuing into 2026, the "GoldenPass Express" now uses gauge-changing bogies that allow a single train to physically shift its wheels to travel between metre-gauge and standard-gauge tracks in seconds, a "world first" that exemplifies Swiss engineering precision.

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MONTREUX, Switzerland — Concerns over excessive track wear have led the innovative Swiss Golden Pass Express trains that switch from meter gauge to standard gauge to be temporarily restricted to meter-gauge operations.

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Germany has rail links with the following countries. All are to countries of the same gauge (1435 mm), although electrification (15 kV AC 16.7 Hz) and other systems such as signalling may differ.

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The standard Russian railway gauge of 1,524 mm quickly spread throughout the Russian Empire, reached Warsaw, Vladivostok, Murmansk, and Baku.

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In fact, it is known as the “Iberian gauge”. This can be traced back to 1844, when a group of technicians stated that, due to the Spanish and Portuguese orography, the width of the inner sides of the tracks had to be increased.

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Ukraine's railway network is in 1,520 mm gauge, which is prevalent in all post-Soviet countries, as well as in Russia.

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Some places, it is true, use different track gauges (eg. Ireland, Iberia and Russia), but Britain uses just the same standard gauge tracks as are the norm in every country where TGV trains regularly operate. And Eurostar trains happily use just the same tracks as any other TGV.

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Since the chariots were made for or by Imperial Rome they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Thus, we have the answer to the original question. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for an Imperial Roman army war chariot.

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All are built for standard gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1/2 in)) and run using a catenary wire at 50 Hz 25 kV AC. All trains have electric heating.

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