This is a list of notable railway track gauge conversions, railway lines where the distance between the rails is broadened or narrowed. Conversions to broader gauge are generally to accommodate heavier loads or for wider cars, while conversions to narrower gauge tend to be for compatibility with other lines on a rail network. This list also contains instances of lines already prepared for conversion and those which are planned to be converted.
North East railway line in Victoria. A 200 km (120 mi) section between Seymour and Albury was converted, changing two parallel tracks of different gauges to double track. The Oaklands line that would otherwise have been left as an orphan was converted in 2009. The cost of converting this 126 km (78 mi) line has been estimated as just over A$13,000,000.[3]
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
2012
Australia South Australia
South Australia planned to convert its suburban (broad gauge) network to standard gauge in 2012, in conjunction with proposed electrification works. The Outer Harbor and Belair lines were rebuilt with gauge convertible sleepers and re-sleepering of the Gawler line commenced in 2010. The Seaford line was to commence once the Gawler line was completed.[4] However, both gauge conversion and electrification works were suspended due to funding constraints, with work unlikely to proceed for the foreseeable future.[needs update][citation needed]
1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (temporary)
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
1950s
Australia South Australia
The Mount Gambier line in South Australia was fitted with some 3-gauge steel sleepers when it was "temporarily" converted,[ambiguous] pending later proposed conversion to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (which did not occur, the line being abandoned instead).[citation needed]
1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
1927
Australia South Australia
The break of gauge between the broad and narrow gauge lines moved to Hamley Bridge "only" 78km short of Adelaide amd Port Adelaide. The narrow gauge train could reach this break of gauge after travelling 1260km from Alice Springs.
The Inland Railway line from Melbourne to Brisbne of 1600km length includes about 300km of dual gauge that improves the curves and gradients of the original Brisbane to Toowoomba line. This dual gauge replaces the narrow gauge that was chosen to enable cheap 100m radius curves and 2% gradients.
Narrrow gauge is being converted to dual gauge by installing broad gauge third rail. Broad gauge is being converted to dual gauge by installing narrow gauge third rail.
Kindu (Lualaba River port) – Kibombo – Kongolo – Kabalo (Lualaba River port and junction with Katanga line) – Nyunzu – Niemba – Kalemie (the port on Lake Tanganyika): This line was isolated meter gauge until 1955, when the gauge was changed for the connection with the Katanga line in 1956.
In part of Poland under Russian control (Russian Partition), some railways were Russian broad gauge. These were converted to standard gauge after Poland gained independence, to unify the national system.
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
1924
Poland
World War I field railway connecting Nasielsk and Sierpc, 88 km long.
750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
1932
Poland
World War I field railway from Dūkštas to Druya. After the occupation of the Vilnius Region by Poland, the PKP regauged the line.[14] After World War II the majority of the line ended up in Belorussian SSR and closed in the 1970s.[15]
The railways of Sakhalin Island were converted in sections, first laying the third (outer) rail, making rail lines usable by both Japanese- and Russian-gauge trains. Once the railways throughout the island have been converted to the Russian gauge (by 2012), the inner rail was removed.[16]
Spain is building its high-speed lines to standard gauge, even though the existing system is Iberian; new cutoff lines are being built with gauge-convertible sleepers.
The Östra Södermanlands Järnväg railway in Mariefred mostly runs on tracks which were converted from standard gauge when it was remade into a heritage railway in the 1960s.
891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
1934
Sweden
The short and isolated standard gauge tram line Långängsbanan built in 1911 in the northern Stockholm suburb of Stocksund, was converted to the narrow 891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in) Swedish three foot of the adjacent Roslag Railway in 1934. Långängsbanan was closed in 1966.
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
1973-1978
Sweden
The railway between Kalmar and Berga was converted during the 1970s.
1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
1972
Sweden
The railway between Sandbäckshult and Mönsterås was converted between 1970 and 1972. In Sandbäckshult, the line connects to the Kalmar-Berga line. Both were converted to facilitate standard gauge transport to the pulp mill in Mönsterås.
Tanzania in 2008 is proposed 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)/1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) steel sleepers and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)/1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) concrete sleepers to suit gauge conversion.
From 1920, the standard gauge part of the Siam railway amounting to 1,000 km (620 mi) was converted first to third rail, and then to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (metre gauge) making the whole system metre gauge.[19]
Beregovo region network, around 200 km (120 mi); initially built during the Hungarian Empire and regauged when Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union.[20]
Denver to Pueblo on Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.[23] This began a progressive and gradual conversion to standard gauge across Colorado, wherever the traffic justified the conversion
While China and Europe are connected by rail, and while both are mainly 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), the intervening Central Asia Railways are 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) gauge. There are discussions about facilitating an eventual linkage of the Chinese and European standard gauge system.
