This list presents an overview of railway track gauges by size. A gauge is measured between the inner faces of the rails.
See main article: Minimum-gauge railway and Ridable miniature railway. For ridable miniature railways and minimum gauge railways, the gauges are overlapping. There are also some extreme narrow gauge railways listed. See: Distinction between a ridable miniature railway and a minimum gauge railway for clarification.
Model railway gauges are covered in rail transport modelling scales.
| Gauge | Country | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | Imperial | ||
| 89 mm | See in (89 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 121 mm | See in (121 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 127 mm | See gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 184 mm | See (184 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| See gauge ridable miniature railways | |||
| 210 mm | See in (210 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 229 mm | See 9 in (229 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| England | Railway built by minimum gauge pioneer Sir Arthur Heywood, later abandoned in favor of gauge. | ||
| 240 mm | See in (240 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 241 mm | See in (241 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 260 mm | See in (260 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 267 mm | England | Beale Park miniature railway | |
| 305 mm | See 12 in (305 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | ||
| 311 mm | Wales | Fairbourne Railway | |
| 340 mm | Netherlands | Ridable miniature railway in DierenPark Amersfoort[1] | |
| 350 mm | Netherlands | Collection Decauville Spoorweg Museum[2] | |
| 356 mm | United States | See 14 in (356 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways and Chicago Tunnel Company (during construction process) | |
| 368 mm | United States | John J. Coit's Seaside Park Miniature Railway and Long Beach and Asbury Park Railway | |
| 381 mm | See 15 in gauge railways | ||
| 400 mm | France | Agricultural field railways (Decauville portable track) | |
| 406 mm | United States | See 16 in (406 mm) gauge ridable miniature railways | |
| 419 mm | Canada | See in (419 mm) gauge ridable miniature railway | |
| England | Berkhamsted Gasworks Railway[3] | ||
| 432 mm | England | Long Rake Spar mine, underground mine railway[4] | |
| 450 mm | Czech Republic | Industrial railways[5] | |
| England | Littlethorpe Potteries, hand-worked line connecting clay pits to pottery[6] | ||
| 457 mm | England | Crewe Works Railway, Horwich Works Railway, Royal Arsenal Railway, Sand Hutton Light Railway, Steeple Grange Light Railway | |
| United States | Eastlake Park Scenic Railway, Venice Miniature Railway and Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad | ||
| Australia | National Railway Museum, Port Adelaide | ||
| 470 mm | United States | Travel Town Museum miniature railway | |
| 483 mm | Isle of Man | Great Laxey Mine Railway | |
| United States | Swanton Pacific Railroad | ||
| England | Ayle Colliery mine railway, Athole G. Allen Ltd. Closehouse Barytes Mine railway | ||
See main article: Narrow-gauge railway. Railways with a track gauge between and .
| Gauge | Country | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | Imperial | |||
| 500 mm | Austria | Geriatriezentrum Am Wienerwald Feldbahn | ||
| Argentina | Tren del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia - Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego | |||
| France | Several Decauville portable railways, Chemin de Fer Touristique du Tarn, Petit train d'Artouste | |||
| Hungary | Mining railways in Pilisszentiván (defunct), Törökszentmiklós brick factory | |||
| 508 mm | England | Great Woburn Railway situated in Woburn Safari Park; and North Bay Railway near Scarborough | ||
| United States | Confusion Hill | |||
| Russia | Krasnoyarsk Child Railway | |||
| 520 mm | Germany | Several mine railways. Origine: from 1 ft 8 in preußische Zoll = 523,2 mm.[7] | ||
| 533 mm | England | Pleasure Beach Express | ||
| 550 mm | Germany | Mine railways in Mayen | ||
| 557 mm | Dominican Republic | Transport in the Dominican Republic | ||
| 560 mm | Germany | Salt mine railway in Berchtesgaden[8] | ||
| 575 mm | Germany | Iron ore mine railways in Bad Ems and Ramsbeck[9] | ||
| 578 mm | United States | Lakeside Amusement Park & San Francisco Zoo | ||
| Wales | Penrhyn Quarry Railway | |||
| 580 mm | Austria | Wolfsegg Traunthaler Kohlenwerke in Ampflwang im Hausruckwald[10] | ||
| Hungary | Mining railways in Dorog (defunct) | |||
| 597 mm | See 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways | |||
| 600 mm | ||||
| 603 mm | ||||
| 610 mm | ||||
| 620 mm | Slovenia | Cave railway in the Postojna Cave[11] | ||
| 622 mm | Wales | Penrhyn Quarry Railway, until 1879 | ||
| 630 mm | Germany | Brickworks in Zehdenick[12] | ||
| 655 mm | Germany | Schlebusch-Harkorter Coal Railway | ||
| 660 mm | Germany | Industrial and mine railways in Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate | ||
| Japan | Yamanashi horse-drawn tramway | |||
| Wales | Cwt y Bugail quarry | |||
| 686 mm | See List of 2 ft 3 in gauge railways | |||
| 693 mm | Sweden | 28 Swedish inches. Several railways. | ||
| 700 mm | Denmark | The Standard gauge for sugar beet railways; none remain. | ||
| England | Biwater Pipes and Castings[13] | |||
| France | Chemin de fer d'Abreschviller | |||
| Hungary | Pálházi State Forest Railway (1888-1947, rebuilt to 760 mm) | |||
| Indonesia | Once used by 36 sugar mills in Java, only 23 still in use. | |||
| Latvia | Used in some peat railways | |||
| Netherlands | Used in industrial, peat, and field railways | |||
| 711 mm | England | Snailbeach District Railways | ||
| 716 mm | Poland | Dobre Aleksandrowskie – Kruszwica railway[14] (operating tourist railway) | ||
| 724 mm | Wales | Guest Keen Baldwins Iron and Steel Company Ltd.: Briton Ferry Steelworks,[15] Glyn Valley Tramway | ||
| 737 mm | England | St. Michael's Mount Tramway[16] | ||
| 740 mm | Luxembourg | Minière et Métallurgique de Rodange mine railway[17] | ||
| 750 mm | See 750 mm gauge railways | |||
| 760 mm | Bulgaria | Origin: See Bosnian gauge Septemvri - Dobriniste narrow railway | ||
| 762 mm | See 2 ft 6 in gauge railways | |||
| 765 mm | DR Congo | Matadi–Kinshasa Railway, converted to 1925–1931.[18] | ||
| 775 mm | England | Jee's Hartshill Granite Quarry[19] | ||
| Germany | , a funicular a funicular in Bad Pyrmont | |||
| 785 mm | Germany | Origin: Bröl Valley Railway | ||
| Poland | Silesian Interurbans, Upper Silesian Narrow Gauge Railways | |||
| 791 mm | Denmark | Faxe Jernbane in southern Zealand | ||
| 800 mm | See 800 mm gauge railways | |||
| 802 mm | Sweden | Far behind, one of the most common narrow gauges in Sweden, for example the (1874–1970) in Värmland. Never formed much of a network, none remain. | ||
| 813 mm | England | Winnal Gasworks Railway | ||
| Wales | Rhosydd Quarry, a counterbalance weight for a gauge incline; | |||
| 820 mm | Germany | Prince William Railway Company, Wuppertal-Vohwinkel–Essen-Überruhr railway, converted to standard gauge. | ||
| 825 mm | England | Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway (a vehicle that ran on two parallel gauge tracks, billed as 181NaN1 gauge), Furzebrook Railway and Volk's Electric Railway | ||
| 838 mm | Japan | Nankai Railway (former gauge, converted to 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in gauge) | ||
| England | Seaton Tramway, Volk's Electric Railway (former gauge) | |||
| 850 mm | Italy | Ponte Tresa-Luino (1924: converted to gauge, 1950: closed)Menaggio–Porlezza railway (1939: closed) | ||
| 860 mm | Germany | Alsen´sche Portland-Cementfabrik KG in Itzehoe[20] | ||
| 876 mm | England | Biwater Pipes and Castings[21] Cattybrook Brickworks railway | ||
| 880 mm | Germany | Bayerisches Moor- und Torfmuseum,[22] Peat museum (operating) | ||
| Norway | Industrial railway in Stokke | |||
| 889 mm | England | Miller Engineering & Construction Ltd. Sandiacre depot[23] | ||
| Germany | Schlebusch-Harkorter Coal Railway | |||
| 891 mm | Sweden | See Swedish three foot gauge railways | ||
| 900 mm | See 900 mm gauge railways | |||
| 914 mm | See 3 ft gauge railways | |||
| 925 mm | Germany | Trams in Chemnitz, since in 1914 | ||
| 943 mm | England | Central Electricity Generating Board Fawley Tunnel[24] | ||
| 946 mm | Austria | Gletscherbahn Kaprun 2,[25] a funicular partly inside a tunnel. | ||
| 950 mm | Eritrea | Eritrean Railway | ||
| Hungary | Zsuzsi Forest Railway (1882-1961, re-built to 760 mm) | |||
| Italy | Cagliari light rail, Circumvesuviana, Dolomites Railway, Ferrovia Circumetnea, Ferrovie della Sardegna, Metrosassari, Rome–Giardinetti railway, Rome–Fiuggi railway | |||
| Libya | Italian Libya Railways | |||
| Somalia | Mogadishu-Villabruzzi Railway | |||
| 955 mm | Switzerland | Polybahn funicular | ||
| 965 mm | England | Clifton Rocks Railway | ||
| United States | Birmingham Coal Company Railroad, Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Railroad and Keeling Coal Company | |||
| 972 mm | England | Betchworth Quarry Railways | ||
| 985 mm | Switzerland | Zugerbergbahn funicular | ||
| 1,000 mm | See metre-gauge railway | |||
| 1,009 mm | Bulgaria | Sofia Tramway | ||
| 1,016 mm | Scotland | Kilmarnock and Troon Railway | ||
| United States | Coal Hill Coal Railroad, Keeling Coal Company, Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Plane, Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad | |||
| 1,029 mm | England | Herne Bay Pier Railway | ||
| 1,035 mm | England | Lake Lock Rail Road | ||
| 1,040 mm | Austria | Festungsbahn (Salzburg) | ||
| 1,050 mm | Jordan | Hejaz railway | ||
| Syria | ||||
| Lebanon and Syria | Former Beyrouth – Damascus Railway, in Lebanon mostly dismantled | |||
| Syria and Saudi Arabia | Hejaz railway (Damascus - Medina) | |||
| 1,055 mm | Algeria | National Company for Rail Transport | ||
| 1,067 mm | See 3 ft 6 in gauge railways | |||
| 1,093 mm | England | Middlesbrough Corporation Tramways, Middlesbrough, Stockton and Thornaby Electric Tramways Company and Swinefleet Works | ||
| Sweden | Köping-Uttersberg-Riddarhyttan Railway, 1864–1968. The gauge was by mistake. | |||
| 1,099 mm | Sweden | [26] 44 Swedish inches[27] | ||
| 1,100 mm | Brazil | The Santa Teresa Tramway in Rio de Janeiro | ||
| Germany | Braunschweig tram system; tram systems in Kiel and Lübeck, closed | |||
| Italy | Former SVIE (Società Varesina per Impresse Electriche) network around Varese, circa 1903–1955 | |||
| 1,106 mm | Austria | Horse-drawn railway from Gmunden in the Salzkammergut to Budweis, now in the Czech Republic; coal railways Thomasroith–Attnang and Breitenschützing–Kohlgrube. 3 Austrian Fuß (ft) 6 Zoll (inch) | ||
| 1,130 mm | England | London Pneumatic Despatch Company | ||
| 1,143 mm | England | Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, Saltburn Cliff Lift (until 1921) | ||
| 1,151 mm | 3 ft 9.3150 in | Belgium | Used on line 59 between 1844 and 1897 when the line was privately operated.[28] [29] [30] | |
| 1,156 mm | United States | Arcata and Mad River Railroad, Northern Redwood Lumber Company | ||
| 1,168 mm | United States (Puerto Rico) | El Conquistador Resort | ||
| 1,188 mm | Sweden | Engelsberg–Norberg Railway | ||
| Indonesia | Trams in Jakarta | |||
| 1,200 mm | China | , Chaoyang District, Shantou, China | ||
| France | Funiculars: Funiculaire du Perce-Neige in Tignes, and Funival at Val-d'Isère | |||
| Italy | Funiculars: Central Funicular of the Naples Metro, Gardena Ronda Express in Val Gherdëina (South Tyrol) | |||
| Switzerland | Parsenn funicular at Davos, Rheineck–Walzenhausen mountain railway (part of St. Gallen S-Bahn), St. Moritz–Corviglia funicular (lower section only of 436m (1,430feet) route-length only - upper section is gauge), Thunersee–Beatenberg funicular in Bern canton | |||
| 1,217 mm | Sweden | Four lines, all converted to standard gauge before 1900, still in use. 1217 mm is based on Swedish feet but compatible with locomotives of . See:Narrow gauge railways in Sweden | ||
| 1,219 mm | England | Furzebrook Railway (c.1830–1957), Redruth and Chasewater Railway 1826–1915, Bradford Corporation Tramways, Keighley Tramway and a cluster in the NW of England | ||
| Isle of Man | First Falcon Cliff lift (closed 1896), Port Soderick Cliff Lift, (closed 1939), Douglas Head Funicular Railway (closed 1953) | |||
| New Zealand | Wellington tramway system electric trams, closed 1964. | |||
| Scotland | Falkirk and District Tramways (1905–1936), Glasgow Subway | |||
| United States | Former tram systems in Canton, Ohio; Honolulu, Hawaii; Laredo, Texas; Pueblo, Colorado; San Antonio, Texas. | |||
| Wales | Padarn Railway (1842–1961), Saundersfoot Railway (1829–1939) | |||
| 1,245 mm | England | Middleton Railway, converted to standard gauge after 1881 | ||
| United States | Hecla and Torch Lake Railroad[31] | |||
| 1,270 mm | England | Surrey Iron Railway | ||
| Wales | Merthyr Tramroad, Rumney Railway | |||
| 1,283 mm | England | Saltburn Cliff Lift (from 1922) | ||
| 1,295 mm | United States | Delaware and Hudson Canal Company Gravity Railroad, Delaware and Hudson Railway and Haytor Granite Tramway | ||
| 1,300 mm | France | Funiculars of Lyon (Lyon, France) | ||
| Austria | Reisszug (Salzburg, Austria) | |||
| 1,321 mm | England | Mansfield and Pinxton Railway | ||
| Wales | Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company (Newport and Pontypool Railway) | |||
| 1,333 mm | England | Belvoir Castle tramway[32] | ||
| 1,350 mm | Brazil | Santos tramways (closed 1971)[33] and later Santos heritage tramways (1984–86 and 2000–present)[34] | ||
| 1,372 mm | See 4 ft 6 in gauge railway | |||
| 1,384 mm | Scotland | various railways in Scotland prior to 1840 | ||
| 1,397 mm | Wales | Duffryn Llynvi and Porthcawl Railway[35] | ||
| 1,416 mm | England | Huddersfield Corporation Tramways | ||
| Scotland | List of town tramway systems in Scotland | |||
| 1,422 mm | United States | Centreville Military Railroad | ||
| England | prior to 1846 (proto standard gauge) | |||
| 1,429 mm | United States | Washington Metro | ||
See main article: Standard-gauge railway.
| Gauge | Country or Region | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | Imperial | |||
| 1,432 mm | Hong Kong | Disneyland Resort line, Island line (excluding West Island line), Kwun Tong line (excluding Kwun Tong line extension), Tseung Kwan O line, Tsuen Wan line, Tung Chung line[36] | ||
| Bucharest | ||||
| See | Standard gauge is defined both in metric and in imperial units. It is also the best-known gauge worldwide; 55% of the world uses this track. In 2020, China’s rail network is standard gauge, with around of line.[37] | |||
| 1,440 mm | Switzerland | St. Moritz–Corviglia funicular (upper section of 1616m (5,302feet) route-length only - lower section is gauge) | ||
See main article: Broad-gauge railway.
| Gauge | Country or Region | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | Imperial | |||
| 1,445 mm | Italy | Tramway networks in Milan, Turin and Rome; Orvieto Funicular; railway network until 1930. | ||
| Spain | Madrid Metro | |||
| 1,448 mm | England | Manchester and Leeds Railway | ||
| United States | Danville, Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre Railroad, Strasburg Rail Road (converted to standard gauge). | |||
| 1,450 mm | Germany | Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG, Trams in Dresden | ||
| 1,458 mm | Germany | Trams in Leipzig | ||
| 1,473 mm | United States | The Midwest, until after the Civil War (Ohio gauge) | ||
| 1,492 mm | Canada | Toronto Suburban Railway[38] from 1891–1917. until the end at 1931 | ||
| 1,495 mm | Canada | Toronto gauge Halton County Radial Railway, Toronto streetcar system, and Toronto subway (Lines 1, 2, and 4) | ||
| 1,520 mm | Former USSR | Also named Russian gauge. See 5 ft and 1520 mm gauge railways & Confederate railroads in the American Civil War | ||
| 1,522 mm | Finland | Helsinki Metro[39] | ||
| 1,524 mm | Finland | In 1862 the first railway connection in Grand Duchy of Finland were built with five foot railway gauge,[40] however that gauge was first introduced in United Kingdom.[41] | ||
| 1,537 mm | England | London and Blackwall Railway 1840–1849, converted to standard gauge | ||
| 1,575 mm | Spain | Ferrocarril de Langreo | ||
| United States | Columbus Ohio streetcars[42] | |||
| 1,581 mm | United States | Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA),[43] Philadelphia | ||
| 1,588 mm | United States | Pennsylvania trolley gauge | ||
| 1,600 mm | Germany | Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway 1840-1854, converted to standard gauge | ||
| Ireland | See 5 ft 3 in gauge railways | |||
| Australia | States of Victoria and South Australia | |||
| 1,613 mm | United States | Sacramento Valley Railroad (1852–77) | ||
| 1,620 mm | 5 ft 4 in | South Korea | U Line | |
| 1,638 mm | United States | Baltimore, Baltimore Streetcar System (defunct) and Baltimore Streetcar Museum (operating) | ||
| 1,664 mm | Portugal | Converted to from 1955 | ||
| 1,668 mm | See Iberian gauge | |||
| 1,672 mm | Spain | Spanish national rail network Converted to from 1955;[44] The current Barcelona metro line 1 and Cercanías Málaga. | ||
| 1,676 mm | India | See 5 ft 6 in gauge railway | ||
| United States | Bay Area Rapid Transit (excluding eBART and OAK Airport line); Some lines in New England were built to this gauge including Androscoggin (until 1861), Maine Central (until 1871), Vermont Central (until 1870s), Grand Trunk (until 1877), Buckfield Branch / Portland & Oxford Central (until 1878), European & North American (until 1877), and Bangor & Piscataquis (until 1877). | |||
| 1,700 mm | 5 ft 7 in | South Korea | Busan Metro Line 4, Sillim Line | |
| 1,727 mm | England | Babbacombe Cliff Railway and Fisherman's Walk Cliff Railway | ||
| 5feet | 5 ft 8 in | United States | Gualala River Railroad | |
| 1,750 mm | France | Ligne de Sceaux Paris to Limours via Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, until 1891 | ||
| 1,800 mm | Germany | Oberweißbacher Bergbahn (funicular section only)[45] [46] | ||
| United States | Hogwarts Express (located in Universal Orlando Resort) | |||
| 1,829 mm | India | In the 19th century, engineers considered this gauge but finally settled on | ||
| Russia | Saint Petersburg - Tsarskoe Selo Railways, 1837–1897. | |||
| United States | Albany and Susquehanna Railroad, Erie Railroad until June 22, 1880, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad March–May 1876, Predominant gauge used by railroads along southern tier of New York State that connected to the pioneering Erie Railroad. Most lines converted to standard gauge 1876-1880, along with the Erie. | |||
| 1,850 mm | Canada | Falls Incline Railway[47] in the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario | ||
| 1,880 mm | Ireland | Ulster Railway, 1839–1846, re-gauged to | ||
| Taiwan | Taipei Metro medium-capacity rubber-tired trains (with rails) | |||
| Japan | SCMaglev train depots for Chuo Shinkansen. | |||
| 1,945 mm | Netherlands | Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij, 1839–1866[48] | ||
| 1,980 mm / 1,981 mm | Israel | Haifa, Carmelit subway railway line - Funicular | ||
| England | North Cliff Lift, Scarborough | |||
| 2,000 mm | Scotland | Cairngorm Mountain Railway - Funicular | ||
| 2,134 mm | England | Original definition of Brunel's broad gauge. This rail gauge was soon changed to [49] to ease running in curves. | ||
| 2,140 mm | South Africa | East London and Table Bay harbour railways | ||
| England | Brunel's Great Western Railway until converted to standard gauge by May 1892, see Great Western Railway The "gauge war". Also, harbour railways at the Isle of Portland and Brixham | |||
| Portugal (Azores) | Ponta Delgada and Horta harbour (using rolling stock from Holyhead harbour) | |||
| Wales | Holyhead harbour railway | |||
| 2,286 mm | England | St Nicholas Cliff Lift, Scarborough | ||
| 2,440 mm | United States | Johnstown Inclined Plane, Johnstown, Pennsylvania | ||
| 2,642 mm | 8 ft 8 in | China | Guangzhou Metro APM Line (uses the Bombardier Innovia APM 100) | |
| 2,743 mm | Japan | Lake Biwa Canal, an inclined plane near Kyoto | ||
| United States | Knoxville Incline, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | |||
| 3,000 mm | Nazi Germany | See Breitspurbahn | ||
| 3,048 mm | United States | Fort Pitt Incline, Penn Incline, Monongahela Freight Incline and Castle Shannon Incline, Pittsburgh[50] | ||
| 3,327 mm | Scotland | Dalzell Iron and Steel Works, Motherwell, Lanarkshire.[51] | ||
| 5,486 mm | England | Magnus Volk's Brighton and Rottingdean Seashore Electric Railway[52] | ||
| 8,200 mm | Austria | Lärchwandschrägaufzug[53] | ||
| Russia | Krasnoyarsk ship lift[54] | |||