Dominant Gauges
Sixty per cent of the world's railways use Stephenson's 4 ft 8½ in (1,435mm) standard gauge.
| ft′ in″ | mm | The dominant rail gauge in each country shown |
|---|---|---|
| 5′ 6″ | 1676 | |
| 5′ 5⅔″ | 1668 | |
| 5′ 3″ | 1600 | |
| 5′ | 1524 | |
| 4′ 11⅚″ | 1520 | |
| 4′ 8½″ | 1435 | |
| 4′ 6″ | 1372 | |
| 3′ 6″ | 1067 | |
| 3′ 5⅓″ | 1050 | |
| 3' 3⅜″ | 1000 | |
| 3′ 1⅜″ | 950 | |
| 3′ | 914 | |
| 2′ 6″ | 762 | |
| 2′ 5½″ | 750 | |
| 2′ | 610 | |
| 1′ 11⅝″ | 600 |
| Gauge | Name | Installation (km) | Installation (miles) | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) | Indian gauge | 78,500 | 48,800 | India (42,000 km or 26,000 mi; increasing with Project Unigauge), Pakistan, Argentina 24,000 km or 15,000 mi, Chile, Sri Lanka 1,508 km or 937 mi (approx. 6.67% of the world's railways) |
| 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 2⁄3 in) | Iberian gauge | 15,394 | 9,565 | Portugal, Spain. Sometimes referred to as the Iberian gauge. In Spain the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias (ADIF) managed 11,683 km of this gauge and 22 km of mixed gauge (at end of 2010). The Portuguese network is actually at 1674mm The Portuguese Rede Ferroviária Nacional (REDE) managed 2,650 km of this gauge of this track at the same date. |
| 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) | Irish gauge | 9,800 | 6,100 | Ireland (1,800 km or 1,100 mi), and in Australia mainly Victoria and some South Australia Victorian gauge (4,017 km or 2,496 mi), Brazil (4,057 km or 2,521 mi) |
| 1,524 mm (5 ft) | Russian gauge | 5,865 | 3,644 | Finland (contiguous to and generally compatible with 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in)) |
| 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) | Russian gauge | 220,000 | 140,000 | CIS states, also Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia (approx. 17% of the world's railways; all contiguous — redefined from 1,524 mm (5 ft)) |
| 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) | Standard gauge | 720,000 | 450,000 | Europe, Argentina, United States, Canada, China, Korea (South), Korea (North), Australia, Indonesia (only at Aceh), Middle East, North Africa, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Uruguay and Philippines. Also high-speed lines in Japan, Taiwan and Spain. (approx. 60% of the world's railways) |
| 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | Cape gauge | 112,000 | 70,000 | Southern and Central Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, New Zealand, Queensland Australia Queensland Rail (approx. 9% of the world's railways) |
| 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) | Metre gauge | 95,000 | 59,000 | SE Asia, India (17,000 km or 11,000 mi, decreasing with Project Unigauge), Argentina (11,000 km or 6,800 mi), Brazil (23,489 km or 14,595 mi), Bolivia, northern Chile, Switzerland (RhB, MOB, BOB, MGB), East Africa (approx. 7% of the world's railways) |
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