5 ft 3 in gauge railways

Railways with a track gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) fall within the category of broad gauge railways. As of 2022^[update], they were extant in Australia, Brazil and on the island of Ireland.

History

600 BC: The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece – a grooved paved trackway – was constructed with an average gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm).^[1]
1840: The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway was constructed in 1840–1851 to 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) gauge before being converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) in 1854–1855.
1843: The Board of Trade of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, after investigating a dispute caused by diverse gauges, recommended the use of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) in Ireland.^[2]
1846: The Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 made 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) mandatory throughout all of Ireland.^[3]^[2]
1847: The Swiss Northern Railway was opened as a 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) line^[when?] and converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) in 1854.
1854: The first Australian railway to operate steam-powered freight and passenger services, Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company, was built as a 5 ft 3 in (1600 mm) line.^[4]
1858: The first Brazilian 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) railway was opened: the Companhia de Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II.
1863: The Canterbury Railway in New Zealand was built in 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). It was converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) in 1876.

Nomenclature

In Great Britain and Ireland, the gauge is known as Irish gauge.^[5]^[6]^[7] In Ireland it is also common to hear it referred to as "standard gauge" or "broad gauge" when distinguishing it from the various 3 ft (narrow gauge) railways of the island.^[8]^[9]
In Australia, where the states of Victoria and South Australia have this gauge (as did Tasmania in the 19th century), it is also known as broad gauge.^[10]^: 168^[11]
In Brazil, the gauge is mainly known as broad gauge (Portuguese: bitola larga), but occasionally as Irish gauge (Portuguese: bitola irlandesa).^[12]^[13]

Installations

Country/region	Railway
Australia	Main articles: Rail transport in South Australia and Rail transport in Victoria Currently, the suburban rail networks in Adelaide, Melbourne, and most regional lines in Victoria (including some that cross the border into New South Wales) use 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). The 828 km (514.5 mi) long Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor linking South Australia and Victoria, and some associated branch lines, was converted to standard gauge in 1995. The final 200 km (124.3 mi) section of the North East line, Victoria and the 125 km (77.7 mi) long Oaklands railway line, which runs into New South Wales from Victoria, were converted to standard gauge in 2008–2010. The Mildura and Murrayville railway lines were converted to standard gauge in 2018.
Brazil	Main article: Rail transport in Brazil Lines connecting the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais; E.F.Carajás in Pará and Maranhão states, and Ferronorte in Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul states. Used in older Metro systems. Although the metre gauge network is almost five times longer,^[14] Irish gauge is considered the standard by ABNT.^[15] The current^[when?] network is 4,057 km or 2,521 mi, 15% of the total Brazilian network.
Germany	Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway 1840–1855^[16]
Island of Ireland	Main article: Rail transport in Ireland Following proposed projects of the Ulster Railway and Dublin and Drogheda Railway companies (using 6 ft 2 in (1,880 mm) and 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm), respectively), and existing issues of competing gauges in Great Britain, in 1843 the Board of Trade (with the advice of engineers Charles Pasley and George Stephenson) introduced the gauge as a compromise.^[2] The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 was passed to formalise the gauge used on the island of Ireland to 5 feet 3 inches (1600mm).^[3]^[2] As of 2013^[update] the network totals over 2,730 km or 1,696 mi, 2,400 km or 1,491 mi in the Republic of Ireland^[17] and 330 km or 205 mi in Northern Ireland.
Switzerland	Swiss Northern Railway between 1847 and 1854, converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge. Fun'Ambule Funicular in Neuchâtel, 330 m long, opened 27 April 2001.
New Zealand	Canterbury Railways from 1863; all were routes converted to 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) by 1876.

Similar gauges

The Pennsylvania trolley gauges of 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1,588 mm) and 5 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1,581 mm) are similar to this gauge, but incompatible. There is also a 5 ft 2 in (1,575 mm) gauge. See: Track gauge in Ireland.

Locomotives

Before the advent of diesel and electric traction, one of the advantages of the broader 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Irish gauge compared to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) was that more space between steam locomotive frames allows for a bigger firebox, enabling generation of more steam.

References

^ Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), "Railways in the Greek and Roman world", in Guy, A.; Rees, J. (eds.), Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference (PDF), pp. 8–19 (10–15), archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Brief history of Irish railways". Downpatrick & County Down Railway. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Odds and ends". Colonial Times. Hobart, Tasmania: National Library of Australia. 24 March 1846. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
^ Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways. p. 40.
^ Viscount Lifford (24 April 1879). "Railways (Ireland)—resolution". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Lords. col. 967.
^ Rail, Irish. "Iarnród Éireann Heritage and Enthusiasts". Irish Rail.
^ https://hmrs.org.uk/stewards/irish-bg
^ McCormack, K. (2017). Irish Railways in the 1950s and 1960s: A Journey Through Two Decades. United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Books.
^ Irish Builder and Engineer. (1881:58). Ireland: Howard MacGarvey & Sons..
^ Fitch, Ron (2006). Australian Railwayman: from cadet engineer to railways commissioner. Dural, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1877058483.
^ Mike W. Harry (2008). Cast Into the Unknown. p. 30. ISBN 9781875329670.
^ Engenharia, Wasaki (27 October 2022). "As medidas das bitolas mais usadas no Brasil".
^ "A padronização da bitola nas ferrovias da Grã-Bretanha". vfco.brazilia.jor.br.
^ Rail_transport_in_Brazil
^ Newer Metro systems use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
^ Rieger, Bernhard (23 April 2006). "Breitspurbahn". Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2007.
^ "Infrastructure". Irish Rail. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.

[1] Lewis, M. J. T. (2001), "Railways in the Greek and Roman world", in Guy, A.; Rees, J. (eds.), Early Railways. A Selection of Papers from the First International Early Railways Conference (PDF), pp. 8–19 (10–15), archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2009

[DCDR1-2] "Brief history of Irish railways". Downpatrick & County Down Railway. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

[NLA1-3] "Odds and ends". Colonial Times. Hobart, Tasmania: National Library of Australia. 24 March 1846. p. 4. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

[4] Harrigan, Leo J. (1962). Victorian Railways to '62. Melbourne: Victorian Railways. p. 40.

[5] Viscount Lifford (24 April 1879). "Railways (Ireland)—resolution". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Lords. col. 967.

[6] Rail, Irish. "Iarnród Éireann Heritage and Enthusiasts". Irish Rail.

[7] ttps://hmrs.org.uk/stewards/irish-bg

[8] McCormack, K. (2017). Irish Railways in the 1950s and 1960s: A Journey Through Two Decades. United Kingdom: Pen & Sword Books.

[9] Irish Builder and Engineer. (1881:58). Ireland: Howard MacGarvey & Sons..

[10] Fitch, Ron (2006). Australian Railwayman: from cadet engineer to railways commissioner. Dural, New South Wales: Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1877058483.

[11] Mike W. Harry (2008). Cast Into the Unknown. p. 30. ISBN 9781875329670.

[12] Engenharia, Wasaki (27 October 2022). "As medidas das bitolas mais usadas no Brasil".

[13] "A padronização da bitola nas ferrovias da Grã-Bretanha". vfco.brazilia.jor.br.

[14] Rail_transport_in_Brazil

[15] Newer Metro systems use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

[breitspurbahn-16] Rieger, Bernhard (23 April 2006). "Breitspurbahn". Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2007.

[17] "Infrastructure". Irish Rail. Archived from the original on 7 May 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2013.

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v t e Track gauge (list)
Minimum-gauge Minimum-gauge railways	15 in (381 mm) 400 mm (15+3⁄4 in) 16 in (406 mm) 18 in (457 mm) 19 in (483 mm) 500 mm (19+3⁄4 in) 20 in (508 mm) 21 in (533 mm) 1 ft 10 in (559 mm)
Narrow gauge	2 foot and 600 mm 2 ft 3 in (686 mm) 750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in) 760 mm (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in) 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) 800 mm (2 ft 7+1⁄2 in) 891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in) Swedish three foot 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) 3 ft (914 mm) 950 mm (3 ft 1+3⁄8 in) Italian metre gauge 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge 1,050 mm (3 ft 5+11⁄32 in), 1,055 mm (3 ft 5+1⁄2 in), 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) 1,093 mm (3 ft 7 in), 1,100 mm (3 ft 7+5⁄16 in), 1,200 mm (3 ft 11+1⁄4 in) 4 ft (1,219 mm) 4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm), Middleton Railway 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm), Scotch gauge 4 ft 6+1⁄2 in (1,384 mm), Scotch gauge 4 ft 7+3⁄4 in (1,416 mm) 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm), almost standard gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄4 in (1,429 mm) 1,432 mm (4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)
Standard gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in / 1,435 mm, Stephenson gauge
Broad gauge	1,440 mm (4 ft 8+11⁄16 in) 1,445 mm (4 ft 8+7⁄8 in) 1,450 mm (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in) 4 ft 9+3⁄8 in (1,457 mm) 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in) 4 ft 10+7⁄8 in (1,495 mm), Toronto gauge 5 ft / 1,524 mm and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in), Russian gauge. 5 ft 2+1⁄4 in / 1,581 mm and 5 ft 2+1⁄2 in / 1,588 mm, Pennsylvania gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), Irish gauge 5 ft 4+1⁄2 in (1,638 mm), Baltimore gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in), Iberian gauge 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm), Indian gauge 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm), Brunel gauge 3,000 mm (9 ft 10+1⁄8 in), Breitspurbahn 8,200 mm (26 ft 10+27⁄32 in), Lärchwandschrägaufzug 9,000 mm (29 ft 6+5⁄16 in), Krasnoyarsk ship lift
List of track gauge articles	List of track gauges List of tram track gauges Miniature railways Minimum-gauge railways Large amusement railways
Gauge differences	Bogie exchange Break of gauge Dual gauge Gauge conversion list Variable gauge
Transport mode	Tram and light rail Rapid transit Miniature Scale model
Categories	by country by imperial units by metric units by name lists of track gauges