Why are there different railway gauges in India?

The distance between the two tracks in these railway gauges is 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm). Any gauge wider than the standard gauge or 1,435 mm is called a broad gauge. Broad gauge railways are also used on ports for cranes etc. This gives better stability and they are even better than the thinner gauges.

Which gauge is mostly used in Indian Railways?

Indian Railways today predominantly operates on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) broad gauge. Most of the metre gauge and narrow gauge railways have been converted to broad gauge.

Why India chose broad gauge over standard gauge?

While a standard-gauge railway has track gauge of 1,435mm, the broad gauge has a track broader than that and varies from country to country. India manufactures the railway equipment, engines, and bogies for broad gauge, so the technology makes financial sense for the country.

What are the 3 gauges of railways?

Rail Gauges

• Broad Gauge: width 1676 mm to 1524 mm or 5’6” to 5’0”
• Standard Gauge: width 1435 mm and 1451 mm or 4′-8⅟2”
• Metre Gauge: width 1067 mm, 1000 mm and 915 mm or 3′-6”, 3′-33/8” and 3′-0”
• Narrow Gauge: width 762 mm and 610 mm or 2′-6” and 2′-0”.

Why is BART not standard gauge?

BART actually uses aerospace technology, and the cars are made out of aluminum rather than steel, which made them around 80,000 pounds lighter than most other US train cars. Allison says that’s one possible answer behind BART’s use of a wider gauge.

Why standard gauge is not used in India?

In India, standard gauge is used only for urban rail transit systems like Metro, Monorail and Tram. All metro lines coming in urban areas will be made only in the standard gauge because it is easy to get rolling stock for the standard gauge as compared to the Indian gauge.

Why are train tracks so narrow?

In the thread, Holohan contends that the standard railroad gauge in the U.S.—4 feet, 8.5 inches—derives from the way that rail lines were built in England, where engineers based the width of their railroads on the spacing of road ruts in Imperial Rome, which were in turn designed to accommodate the size of horses’ rear …