Gauge Change Train
This is the name for the concept of using a single train that is specially designed to travel on both 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge railway lines and the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge used by Shinkansen train services in Japan. The trucks/bogies of the Gauge Change Train (GCT) allow the wheels to be unlocked from the axles, narrowed or widened as necessary, and then relocked. This allows a GCT to traverse both standard gauge and narrow gauge tracks without the expense of regauging lines. Two test trains have been constructed, and the latest is undergoing reliability trials on the Yosan Line east of Matsuyama (in Shikoku), with gauge changing trials at Shin-Yatsushiro (on Kyushu) proposed to commence in April 2014 for a three-year period. The train will be trialled between Kumamoto, travelling on the narrow gauge line to Shin-Yatsushiro, where a gauge changer will be installed, so the GCT can then be trialled on the Shinkansen line to Kagoshima. It is anticipated the train will travel approximately 600,000 km over the three-year trial. A new "full standard" Shinkansen line is under construction from Takeo Onsen to Nagasaki, with the Shin Tosu - Takeo Onsen section of the Kyushu Shinkansen branch planned to remain narrow gauge and GCTs proposed to provide the Shinkansen service at least between Hakata and Nagasaki when the line is opened in March 2023.
Read more about this topic: High-speed Rail In Japan, Future
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