What is the gauge of the railway in Africa?


What is the gauge of the railway in Africa? Originally standard gauge, the railways of the then Cape Colony changed to narrow gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm), sometimes known as Cape gauge, for cost-cutting reasons.


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.


What is the gauge of Indian railways?

Broad gauge of 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in), commonly known as Indian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is the widest gauge in common use anywhere in the world.


What is a narrow gauge in South Africa?

It is common for South Africans to consider anything less than 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in, Cape gauge) as a narrow-gauge railway.


What is the fastest narrow gauge train in the world?

The speed record for 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow-gauge rail is 245 km/h (152 mph), set in South Africa in 1978. A special 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railcar was built for the Otavi Mining and Railway Company with a design speed of 137 km/h (85 mph).


What is the difference between Cape gauge and narrow gauge?

Cape gauge is 1067mm wide, because it is narrower than the standard gauge of 1435mm, so it is a kind of “narrow gauge”. It's named Cape Gauge because the former Cape Province of South Africa adopted this gauge in 1873. But the first country to install this gauge was Norway.


Which countries use narrow gauge railway?

Narrow-gauge trams, particularly metre-gauge, are common in Europe. Non-industrial, narrow-gauge mountain railways are (or were) common in the Rocky Mountains of the United States and the Pacific Cordillera of Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, Greece, and Costa Rica.


What gauge are Ukrainian railways?

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


What gauge are Russian railways?

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


Why does Australia have different rail gauges?

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.