Misplaced Pages

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77-557: The Roca line is a 1,676 mm ( 5 ft 6 in ) gauge commuter rail service in the Buenos Aires Province , Argentina , part of General Roca Railway network. The service is currently operated by State-owned company Trenes Argentinos , from the city-centre terminus of Constitución south to Ezeiza , Alejandro Korn , La Plata , Cañuelas , Chascomús , Gutiérrez and Lobos , and west to Sarmiento Line 's station Haedo . The transfer stations between

154-673: A DMU . Railbuses are used in various areas with little passenger demand, including from Kandy to the suburb of Peradeniya and the Kelani Valley line in Colombo . Services where railbuses are used are not indicated on the Sri Lankan Railways website. The route from Maho Junction to Polghawela in North Western Province is also serviced by Lanka Ashok Leyland railbuses. British Rail produced

231-470: A former ČSD M 152.0 diesel multiple unit , also known as ČD/ŽSR Class 810 . The Kaoham Shuttle utilizes DMU railbuses for its daily service between Lillooet and D'Arcy, British Columbia . In Germany, the Schienenbus was developed in the 1930s to fulfill the need for an inexpensive rail vehicle. It was built to standard specifications on Germany's Reichsbahn (the predecessor to DB ) to meet

308-404: A mine or quarry. Initially the wagons were guided by human muscle power; subsequently by various mechanical methods. Timber rails wore rapidly: later, flat cast-iron plates were provided to limit the wear. In some localities, the plates were made L-shaped, with the vertical part of the L guiding the wheels; this is generally referred to as a "plateway". Flanged wheels eventually became universal, and

385-503: A new independent line was proposed to open up an unconnected area, the gauge was crucial in determining the allegiance that the line would adopt: if it was broad gauge, it must be friendly to the Great Western railway; if narrow (standard) gauge, it must favour the other companies. The battle to persuade or coerce that choice became very intense, and became referred to as "the gauge wars" . As passenger and freight transport between

462-580: A novelty in the shape of a mixed-gauge goods train was introduced between Truro and Penzance. It was worked by a narrow-gauge engine, and behind the narrow-gauge trucks came a broad-gauge match-truck with wide buffers and sliding shackles, followed by the broad-gauge trucks. Such trains continued to run in West Cornwall until the abolition of the Broad Gauge; they had to stop or come down to walking pace at all stations where fixed points existed and

539-683: A number of more modern light train concepts appeared. Few were successful, as many railroads cooperated with highway bus services to eliminate passenger trains from their branch lines. Some, like the American Car & Foundry Motorailer, blurred the line between railcar and railbus. Others, such as the Mack FCD, landed firmly in the railbus camp. Ten of the Macks were purchased by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad during 1951–1952. By

616-555: A predecessor of the modern diesel multiple units . In the late 1950s, Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR developed the single-engined class VT 2.09 with matching trailers and driving trailers, built by Waggonbau Bautzen. A number of serious accidents in Germany in the late 1970s involving railbuses resulted in the specification and development of larger, more robustly designed diesel railcars . Although these cars were more similar in size to

693-536: A prototype was built in 1955. However, JNR found railbuses less reliable in daily operation as compared to standard rail equipment and discontinued their use in the 1960s. Railbuses produced by Fuji Heavy Industries were operational on the Nanbu Jūkan Railway from 1962 until the line ceased operations in 1997, though the preserved units can still be seen at Shichinohe Station . Motorization soared in Japan from

770-467: A relatively static disposition of infantry, requiring considerable logistics to bring them support staff and supplies (food, ammunition, earthworks materials, etc.). Dense light railway networks using temporary narrow gauge track sections were established by both sides for this purpose. Railbus Today, railbuses are being replaced by modern, light DMU railcar designs. Modern diesel-electric railcars, which can be run coupled as multiple units, like

847-657: A slight variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. The gauge is defined in imperial units , metric units or SI units. Imperial units were established in the United Kingdom by the Weights and Measures Act 1824 . The United States customary units for length did not agree with the imperial system until 1959, when one international yard was defined as 0.9144 meters and, as derived units, 1 foot (= 1 ⁄ 3  yd) as 0.3048 meter and 1 inch (= 1 ⁄ 36  yd) as 25.4 mm. The list shows

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924-468: A variety of railbuses as a means both of building new rolling stock cheaply, and to provide services on lightly used lines economically. A variety of railbus known as Pacers , which were constructed in the 1980s, remained in service until 2021, they were phased out as a result of their failure to comply with accessibility requirements. There are records of bus bodies being fitted to special Mack Truck chassis built with small four-wheel bogie trucks under

1001-484: Is also used for the suburban railway systems in South Australia , and Victoria , Australia . The term "medium gauge" had different meanings throughout history, depending on the local dominant gauge in use. In 1840s, the 1,600 mm ( 5 ft 3 in ) Irish gauge was considered a medium gauge compared to Brunel's 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge and

1078-557: Is due to reduce travel times by around 50%. On 5 December 2015, the electrified service between Constitución and Quilmes was presented, although the service was only opened next year, after the presidential elections, on 13 February. On 13 June 2016, the Quilmes-Berazategui section began service. In March 2017, the first section of the electrified service was opened, joining Constitución with City Bell , covering almost 45 km-length. The entire project includes to extend

1155-539: Is railbus on the Kalka-Shimla route (train number 72451), Mathura to Vrindavan (train number 72175) and Merta Jn to Merta City (train number 74804), Khajjidoni - Bagalkot as well, among others. Railbuses in Indonesia are built locally by INKA and used in several local rail services operated by PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI). On August 5, 2012, the first railbus service in the country Batara Kresna railbus

1232-506: Is typically greater for track limited to slower speeds, and tighter for track where higher speeds are expected (as an example, in the US the gauge is allowed to vary between 4 ft 8 in (1,420 mm) to 4 ft 10 in (1,470 mm) for track limited to 10 mph (16 km/h), while 70 mph (110 km/h) track is allowed only 4 ft 8 in (1,420 mm) to 4 ft 9 + 1 ⁄ 2  in (1,460 mm). Given

1309-410: Is undertaken when no other alternative is available. The nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a certain distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head (the gauge faces ) are not necessarily vertical. Some amount of tolerance is necessarily allowed from the nominal gauge to allow for wear, etc.; this tolerance

1386-550: Is used between China and Central Asia, and between Poland and Ukraine, using the SUW 2000 and INTERGAUGE variable axle systems. China and Poland use standard gauge, while Central Asia and Ukraine use 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ). When individual railway companies have chosen different gauges and have needed to share a route where space on the ground is limited, mixed gauge (or dual gauge) track, in which three (sometimes four) rails are supported in

1463-494: The 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) narrow gauge, which became the modern standard gauge . In modern usage, the term "narrow gauge" generally refers to track spaced significantly narrower than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). Narrow gauge is the dominant or second dominant gauge in countries of Southern, Central Africa, East Africa, Southeast Asia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Central America and South America, During

1540-599: The Bratislava – Lviv train, and the Romania/Moldova border on the Chișinău – Bucharest train. A system developed by Talgo and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) of Spain uses variable gauge wheelsets ; at the border between France and Spain, through passenger trains are drawn slowly through an apparatus that alters the gauge of the wheels, which slide laterally on the axles. A similar system

1617-721: The Grand Junction Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway forming a huge preponderance of standard gauge . When Bristol promoters planned a line from London, they employed the innovative engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel . He decided on a wider gauge, to give greater stability, and the Great Western Railway adopted a gauge of 7 ft ( 2,134 mm ), later eased to 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ). This became known as broad gauge . The Great Western Railway (GWR)

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1694-647: The Stadler RS1 , the RegioSprinter of Siemens, or the successor Siemens Desiro , share the role and specifications with railbuses (albeit with improvements in noise, low floor design, fuel efficiency , speed, and other measures), but are usually not referred to by the term "railbus" any longer. Locally manufactured TecnoTren railbuses are in use around Argentina, most notably on the University train of La Plata . They are mostly used in rural parts of

1771-496: The Transmongolian Railway , Russia and Mongolia use 1,520 mm ( 4 ft  11 + 27 ⁄ 32  in ) while China uses the standard gauge of 1,435 mm. At the border, each carriage is lifted and its bogies are changed . The operation can take several hours for a whole train of many carriages. Other examples include crossings into or out of the former Soviet Union: Ukraine/Slovakia border on

1848-403: The spacing between the rails had to be compatible with that of the wagon wheels. As the guidance of the wagons was improved, short strings of wagons could be connected and pulled by teams of horses, and the track could be extended from the immediate vicinity of the mine or quarry, typically to a navigable waterway. The wagons were built to a consistent pattern and the track would be made to suit

1925-476: The "gauge", a metal bar with a precisely positioned lug at each end that track crews use to ensure the actual distance between the rails lies within tolerances of a prescribed standard: on curves, for example, the spacing is wider than normal. Deriving from the name of the bar, the distance between these rails is also referred to as the track gauge. The earliest form of railway was a wooden wagonway, along which single wagons were manhandled, almost always in or from

2002-429: The 1970s on, reducing consuming passenger numbers on local private railways. Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. in 1982 began development of an "LE-Car" that incorporates significantly the structure of the bus, deficit local lines of JNR has been adopted by many of the railway company that local governments and private companies are operated by joint investment. The Ulaanbaatar Railbus is a railbus-based public transit system in

2079-715: The 1980s and 1990s. Both the Uerdingen Schienenbus and the Bautzen railbuses have virtually disappeared from regular revenue service, but its diesel rail car successors are still widely used. DMUs of a third generation in succession after the Schienenbus are now being ordered by the hundreds in a variety of modular design combinations. The first railbuses appeared in Hungary in 1925, made by Ganz Works . From 1934, MÁV started to use railbuses called Árpád, which were also manufactured by Ganz. These vehicles ran on

2156-502: The Budapest-Vienna line. In 1975, the last Árpád was scrapped. In 1986, due to the lack of ČD 810 trains, Ikarus converted an Ikarus 260 bus into a railbus on behalf of MÁV. This model was called Ikarus 725. Its variations 725.01, 722.01 and 723.01 were sent to Malaysia in 1988. Indian Railways operates many railbuses on its branch lines. These railbuses are being replaced by EMUs due to increase in passengers. There

2233-454: The GWR, there was an extended period between political intervention in 1846 that prevented major expansion of its 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge and the final gauge conversion to standard gauge in 1892. During this period, many locations practicality required mixed gauge operation, and in station areas the track configuration was extremely complex. This

2310-579: The Middle East, and China. In modern usage, the term "broad gauge" generally refers to track spaced significantly wider than 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). Broad gauge is the dominant gauge in countries in Indian subcontinent, the former Soviet Union ( CIS states, Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine), Mongolia, Finland (which still uses the original Soviet Gauge of 1524mm), Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile and Ireland. It

2387-780: The Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar . In the Netherlands, a Michelin car was trialled in 1932. Railbuses are used on PeruRail . Syrian railbuses are used in Damascus from Ma'adan to Sarouja , and in Saudi Arabia from Riyadh to Medina and Mecca . Railbuses entered service in Sri Lanka in 1995, using Tata Dimo buses, and later Lanka Ashok Leyland buses. The buses, originally built for road use, were modified to be used on rails and connected back-to-back like

Roca Line - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-504: The Roca Line since it was established after the 1948 nationalisation are: Track gauge In rail transport , track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track . All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges exist worldwide, gauge differences often present a barrier to wider operation on railway networks. The term derives from

2541-408: The U.S. produced diesel railcars, they would not have complied with current FRA requirements, and, like their North American cousin rail diesel cars, are largely railroad-derivative designs. The DB Class 628 exemplifies the contemporary German diesel railcar. This type of car replaced the Schienenbus and locomotive-hauled train consists where possible on branch-line and main-line assignments during

2618-402: The allowed tolerance, it is a common practice to widen the gauge slightly in curves, particularly those of shorter radius (which are inherently slower speed curves). Rolling stock on the network must have running gear ( wheelsets ) that are compatible with the gauge, and therefore the gauge is a key parameter in determining interoperability, but there are many others – see below. In some cases in

2695-528: The branch lines are Avellaneda, Temperley , Bosques and Berazategui . The line consists of 198 kilometres of track (55 of which are electrified ), 70 stations, 146 grade crossings , 907 daily services through its different branches, and carries half a million passengers daily, making it the longest and most used line of the Buenos Aires commuter rail network. Currently there are large electrification and infrastructure improvement works being undertaken on

2772-561: The convenience in laying it and changing its location over unimproved ground. In restricted spaces such as tunnels, the temporary way might be double track even though the tunnel will ultimately be single track. The Airport Rail Link in Sydney had construction trains of 900 mm ( 2 ft  11 + 7 ⁄ 16  in ) gauge, which were replaced by permanent tracks of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) gauge. During World War I, trench warfare led to

2849-486: The country where the tracks have not yet been repaired and so can't handle the weight of regular trains. In 1937, the NSW Department of Railways added six Waddington -built four-wheel streamlined FP Paybuses to serve on small branch lines out of Cowra and Harden that did not have enough passengers to justify a rail motor . Powered by a Ford V8 engine, they were given the designation FP1 to FP6. When

2926-575: The demand for cost-effective services on light railways or Kleinbahnen (the Wismar railbus was a pioneer in those days.) After the Second World War , the eventually ubiquitous Uerdingen railbuses were developed by Deutsche Bundesbahn in single-engined and double-engined versions. The latter were powerful enough to haul through coaches and freight cars . Matching trailers and driving trailers were developed as well. These railbuses were

3003-448: The earliest days of railways, the railway company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only, and independent hauliers provided wagons suited to the gauge. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as "four-foot gauge wagons", say, if the track had a gauge of four feet. This nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at

3080-429: The electrified service to La Plata downtown. The extension to La Plata was opened on 18 October 2017, about two years late due to numerous delays in construction. In January 2018, Argentinian Minister of Transport Guillermo Dietrich approved an order of 200 EMU cars from CRRC Qingdao Sifang for service on the Roca Line, where they were to replace Toshiba EMUs that were built in the 1980s. Companies that have operated

3157-502: The engine and hood, and larger flanged steel drive wheels, as early as 1903. Osgood Bradley Car Company built one of the more popular bodies during the 1920s. Fairbanks-Morse , later a locomotive builder, offered similar conversions fitted to Dodge truck chassis in the mid-1930s, preferring to fit the truck chassis with van bodies and supply a small matching passenger coach trailer. Some railroads built their own bodies on truck or large, powerful luxury passenger car chassis. Most continued

Roca Line - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-533: The entire line, the remodeling of 50 stations and the purchase of 200 electric coaches of the latest technology. Presently electrification of Avellaneda-Quilmes and Temperley-Bosques sections are under way. In April 2013 the University train of La Plata service was opened, using railbuses built by the Argentine company TecnoTren . In that same year, Argentine state-owned company SOFSE announced that brand new electric multiple unit trains had been acquired for

3311-609: The first decades of the 19th century; they took various forms, but George Stephenson developed a successful locomotive on the Killingworth Wagonway , where he worked. His designs were successful, and when the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened in 1825, it used his locomotives, with the same gauge as the Killingworth line , 4 ft 8 in ( 1,422 mm ). The Stockton and Darlington line

3388-423: The imperial and other units that have been used for track gauge definitions: A temporary way is the temporary track often used for construction, to be replaced by the permanent way (the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers/ties and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade) when construction nears completion. In many cases narrow-gauge track is used for a temporary way because of

3465-668: The line's metropolitan services. The contract included 300 coaches for the Roca Line, among the new rolling stock purchased for other lines. The State-owned company Operadora Ferroviaria took over Roca Line (operated by Argentren ) after the Government of Argentina rescinded the contracts signed with the company on 2 March 2015. The contract terms specified that the concession could be cancelled with no right to claim compensation. The agreements had been signed in February 2014, committing Argentren and Corredores Ferroviarios to operate

3542-411: The line, most notably on the Buenos Aires - La Plata service which has received a US$ 500 million investment from the state, 300 of which come from an Inter-American Development Bank loan. Other works on the line include the refurbishment of stations and the raising of platforms to match the height of the new CSR rolling stock, while the construction of new underpasses and other infrastructure improvements

3619-494: The line, with brand new electric multiple units entering service on 8 June 2015. This line had previously been run by the state-owned company Ferrocarriles Argentinos since nationalisation of the Argentine railways in 1948. Branches from Constitución to Ezeiza and Glew were electrified and the entire fleet of trains renewed, acquiring multiple units by Japanese companies Nippon Sharyo , Kinki Sharyo , Tokyu Car , Kawasaki and Hitachi . The electrified rail system

3696-645: The lines. In March 2015, a total of 300 brand-new electric multiple units acquired to Chinese company CSR arrived in Argentina. The National Government announced that the new CSR EMUs would be put into service in June 2015, what finally happened on 8th of that month. The line also reestablished services to Claypole (Constitución–Bosques–Gutiérrez branch) serving with the brand-new EMUs bought from China. The service had previously been suspended in February 2014. There are currently ongoing electrification works on

3773-429: The metal bar, or gauge, that is used to ensure the distance between the rails is correct. Railways also deploy two other gauges to ensure compliance with a required standard. A loading gauge is a two-dimensional profile that encompasses a cross-section of the track, a rail vehicle and a maximum-sized load: all rail vehicles and their loads must be contained in the corresponding envelope. A structure gauge specifies

3850-404: The narrow portion side-stepped to right or left. In rare situations, three different gauges may converge on to a rail yard and triple-gauge track is needed to meet the operational needs of the break-of-gauge station – most commonly where there is insufficient space to do otherwise. Construction and operation of triple-gauge track and its signalling, however, involves immense cost and disruption, and

3927-530: The needs of the horses and wagons: the gauge was more critical. The Penydarren Tramroad of 1802 in South Wales, a plateway, spaced these at 4 ft 4 in ( 1,321 mm ) over the outside of the upstands. The Penydarren Tramroad probably carried the first journey by a locomotive, in 1804, and it was successful for the locomotive, but unsuccessful for the track: the plates were not strong enough to carry its weight. A considerable progressive step

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4004-605: The north-east of Scotland adopted 4 ft  6 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 1,384 mm ); the Redruth and Chasewater Railway (1825) in Cornwall chose 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). The Arbroath and Forfar Railway opened in 1838 with a gauge of 5 ft 6 in ( 1,676 mm ), and the Ulster Railway of 1839 used 6 ft 2 in ( 1,880 mm ). Locomotives were being developed in

4081-477: The outline into which structures (bridges, platforms, lineside equipment etc.) must not encroach. The most common use of the term "track gauge" refers to the transverse distance between the inside surfaces of the two load-bearing rails of a railway track , usually measured at 12.7 millimetres (0.50 inches) to 15.9 millimetres (0.63 inches) below the top of the rail head in order to clear worn corners and allow for rail heads having sloping sides. The term derives from

4158-798: The pattern of a small two axle truck in front, and a single drive axle in the rear. One example from the 1930s, built on a White Truck chassis, is preserved at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri . The use of railbuses in the United States allowed railroads in the 1920s to run frequent and reliable passenger service on branch lines for a fraction of the cost of running steam locomotives, allowing some lines to directly compete with road transportation. The railbuses were well-liked by passengers and able to stop and start more easily than dedicated trains. After World War II

4235-555: The period known as " the Battle of the gauges ", Stephenson's standard gauge was commonly known as "narrow gauge", while Brunel's railway's 7 ft  1 ⁄ 4  in ( 2,140 mm ) gauge was termed " broad gauge ". Many narrow gauge railways were built in mountainous regions such as Wales , the Rocky Mountains of North America, Central Europe and South America. Industrial railways and mine railways across

4312-431: The private company Metropolitano (TMR) took over Roca Line through concession. Nevertheless, non-compliance with the terms and conditions (such as lack of investment and poor maintenance of the line, in spite of the large government subsidies received by Metropolitano) led the Government of Argentina to revoke the contract of concession in 2007. The UGOFE consortium took over the service until 12 February 2014, when it

4389-418: The railbus service wasn't popular, several of the buses became mobile pay cars used to pay railway employees at stations and working on tracks. In December 1941, one of these railbuses (FP 5) was destroyed when dynamite was placed on railway tracks near Yanderra . The three-man crew of the railbus were killed in the explosion. Though £2,000 of loose cash was taken, the safe in the railcar could not be opened by

4466-669: The robbers. No one was prosecuted for the offence. The first railbus, FP1, has been restored where it is on display at the NSW Rail Museum in Thirlmere . Another seven were built by Comeng in the 1960s. In Queensland , " RailBus service " refers to road bus service running parallel to portions of some railway lines, substituting for commuter train. In the Czech Republic and Slovakia , railbuses are used on less frequented rural lines . Most railbuses are based on

4543-416: The same track structure, can be necessary. The most frequent need for such track was at the approaches to city terminals or at break-of-gauge stations. Tracks of multiple gauges involve considerable costs in construction (including signalling work) and complexities in track maintenance, and may require some speed restrictions. They are therefore built only when absolutely necessary. If the difference between

4620-497: The space between the rails of a track is colloquially referred to as the "four-foot", and the space between two tracks the "six-foot", descriptions relating to the respective dimensions. In modern usage the term "standard gauge" refers to 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). Standard gauge is dominant in a majority of countries, including those in North America, most of western Europe, North Africa,

4697-539: The time they were delivered, however, a new president was in charge, and he had little interest in serving branch lines. Only one saw regular service. All were sold to other entities such as Sperry Rail Service , or to overseas railroads. In 1967 and 1968, Red Arrow Lines tested a GM New Look bus converted to operate on rails on its interurban routes and the Norristown High Speed Line . In 1985, SEPTA tested an imported BRE-Leyland railbus on

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4774-553: The two areas became increasingly important, the difficulty of moving from one gauge to the other—the break of gauge —became more prominent and more objectionable. In 1845 a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges was created to look into the growing problem, and this led to the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 , which forbade the construction of broad gauge lines unconnected with the broad gauge network. The broad gauge network

4851-560: The two gauges is large enough – for example between 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge and 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) – three-rail dual-gauge is possible, but if not – for example between 3 ft 6 in ( 1,067 mm ) and 1,000 mm ( 3 ft  3 + 3 ⁄ 8  in ) metre gauge – four rails must be used. Dual-gauge rail lines occur (or have occurred) in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Japan, North Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia and Vietnam. On

4928-826: The world are often narrow gauge. Sugar cane and banana plantations are mostly served by narrow gauges. Very narrow gauges of under 2 feet (610 mm) were used for some industrial railways in space-restricted environments such as mines or farms. The French company Decauville developed 500 mm ( 19 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ) and 400 mm ( 15 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ) tracks, mainly for mines; Heywood developed 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge for estate railways . The most common minimum gauges were 15 in ( 381 mm ), 400 mm ( 15 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ), 16 in ( 406 mm ), 18 in ( 457 mm ), 500 mm ( 19 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ) or 20 in ( 508 mm ). Through operation between railway networks with different gauges

5005-443: 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. Standard gauge is generally known world-wide as being 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ). Terms such as broad gauge and narrow gauge do not have any fixed meaning beyond being materially wider or narrower than standard. In British practice,

5082-659: Was announced that the line would be granted to the local Emepa Group . After the concession was revoked, a temporary consortium named " UGOFE ", took over the Roca line. Several projects were announced to modernize the line and improve its service, setting as a priority the electrification of the whole system. Other projects included a new maintenance yard in the town of Tolosa in La Plata Partido , several new bridges and tunnels at road crossings and improved grade crossings, all new concrete sleepers and welded rail joints for

5159-441: Was compounded by the common rail having to be at the platform side in stations; therefore, in many cases, standard-gauge trains needed to be switched from one side of the track to the other at the approach. A special fixed point arrangement was devised for the purpose, where the track layout was simple enough. In some cases, mixed gauge trains were operated with wagons of both gauges. For example, MacDermot wrote: In November 1871

5236-519: Was eventually converted—a progressive process completed in 1892, called gauge conversion . The same Act mandated the gauge of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) for use in Ireland. As railways were built in other countries, the gauge selection was pragmatic: the track would have to fit the rolling stock. If locomotives were imported from elsewhere, especially in the early days, the track would be built to fit them. In some cases standard gauge

5313-693: Was launched in West Sumatra to serve passengers from Kayu Tanam Station in Padang Pariaman to Minangkabau International Airport . The Great Northern Railway of Ireland produced railbuses at the Railway Works in Dundalk . The president of JNR visited West Germany in 1953 and was introduced to railbusses there. JNR subsequently drew up a plan for railbus introduction plan in JNR, and

5390-743: Was launched to accommodate parts of Prambanan Ekspres commuter rail passengers in Central Java from Purwosari Station in Solo to Wonogiri Station in Wonogiri and vice versa. In 2014, KAI launched Kertalaya railbus in South Sumatra between Kertapati Station in Palembang to Indralaya Station in Ogan Ilir and vice versa to ease road traffic. In 2016, Lembah Anai railbus

5467-445: Was made when cast iron edge rails were first employed; these had the major axis of the rail section configured vertically, giving a much stronger section to resist bending forces, and this was further improved when fish-belly rails were introduced. Edge rails required a close match between rail spacing and the configuration of the wheelsets, and the importance of the gauge was reinforced. Railways were still seen as local concerns: there

5544-566: Was no appreciation of a future connection to other lines, and the choice of track gauge was still a pragmatic decision based on local requirements and prejudices, and probably determined by existing local designs of (road) vehicles. Thus, the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (1826) in the West of Scotland used 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ); the Dundee and Newtyle Railway (1831) in

5621-593: Was opened to public in November, 1985. The design of these Japanese-built cars was based upon the Odakyu 9000 series, built for the first time between 1972 and 1977. Ferrocarriles Argentinos operated the trains until 1991 when residual company FEMESA temporarily took over all the urban services prior to the privatisation of the network. After the Government of Carlos Menem privatised the urban railways services ,

5698-532: Was originally impossible; goods had to be transshipped and passengers had to change trains. This was obviously a major obstacle to convenient transport, and in Great Britain, led to political intervention. On narrow gauge lines, rollbocks or transporter wagons are used: standard gauge wagons are carried on narrow gauge lines on these special vehicles, generally with rails of the wider gauge to enable those vehicles to roll on and off at transfer points. On

5775-497: Was referred to as "narrow gauge" to indicate the contrast. Some smaller concerns selected other non-standard gauges: the Eastern Counties Railway adopted 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ). Most of them converted to standard gauge at an early date, but the GWR's broad gauge continued to grow. The larger railway companies wished to expand geographically, and large areas were considered to be under their control. When

5852-449: Was successful and was greatly expanded, directly and through friendly associated companies, widening the scope of broad gauge. At the same time, other parts of Britain built railways to standard gauge, and British technology was exported to European countries and parts of North America, also using standard gauge. Britain polarised into two areas: those that used broad gauge and those that used standard gauge. In this context, standard gauge

5929-482: Was very successful, and when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , the first intercity line, was opened in 1830, it used the same gauge. It too was very successful, and the gauge, widened to 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in or 1,435 mm and named " standard gauge ", was well on its way to becoming the established norm. The Liverpool and Manchester was quickly followed by other trunk railways, with

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