Why does Russia have a different rail gauge?

In 1970, the Soviet Union began a smooth change of the track gauge from 1,524 mm to 1,5200 mm. This process lasted over 20 years, until the early 1990s. Various official sources indicate that the aim for the change was to increase the stability of the railways when operating freight trains, increasing their speed.



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If locomotives were imported from elsewhere, especially in the early days, the track would be built to fit them. In some cases standard gauge was adopted, but many countries or companies chose a different gauge as their national gauge, either by governmental policy, or as a matter of individual choice.

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Russia and Ukraine use what are known as broad-gauge rails, meaning that the width between a pair of rails is approximately 100 mms wider (1520 mms) than in Europe. Whenever a train from Ukraine crosses into EU territory, goods are moved from broad-gauge to normal-gauge wagons.

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If locomotives were imported from elsewhere, especially in the early days, the track would be built to fit them. In some cases standard gauge was adopted, but many countries or companies chose a different gauge as their national gauge, either by governmental policy, or as a matter of individual choice.

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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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Japan's topographical features permitted more gradual curves than in Norway, perhaps explaining why the 3'6 gauge was chosen over other even narrower gauges. Edmund Morel (1841–71), a British engineer hired by the Japanese government, conferred with Inoue and it is likely that these two men agreed on 3'6.

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Finland uses 1524 mm (5') gauge since times when it was a part of the Russian Empire (1809–1917) and does not change it, rolling stock is cross-compatible with very minor limitations (Allegro trains between St.

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It mandated the track gauge with a width of 1435 mm to be the standard for Great Britain. At that time, the UK was the only one capable of exporting railway rolling stock. As a result, the vast majority of railways in Europe adopted the 1435mm gauge.

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In the 19th century, each of the colonies of Australia adopted their own gauges. The three gauges of the Australian railway network as of 2022. With Federation in 1901 and the removal of trade barriers, the short sightedness of three gauges became apparent.

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Track design. High-speed railway track construction in France has a few key differences from normal railway lines. The radii of curves are larger so that trains can traverse them at higher speeds without increasing the centripetal acceleration felt by passengers.

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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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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.

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