Railways with a track gauge of were first constructed as horse-drawn wagonways. The first intercity passenger railway to use 3 ft 6 in was constructed in Norway by Carl Abraham Pihl. From the mid-nineteenth century, the gauge became widespread in the British Empire. In Africa it became known as the Cape gauge as it was adopted as the standard gauge for the Cape Government Railways in 1873, although it had already been established in Australia and New Zealand before that. It was adopted as a standard in New Zealand, South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Queensland (which has the second largest narrow gauge network in the world) in Australia.
There are approximately 112000km (70,000miles) of gauge track in the world, which are classified as narrow-gauge railways.
This gauge is sometimes called Cape gauge, named after the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa, which adopted it in 1873.[4] "Cape gauge" was used in several English-speaking countries.[11] The equivalent of Cape gauge is used in other languages, such as the Dutch kaapspoor, German Kapspur, Norwegian kappspor and French voie cape. After metrication in the 1960s, the gauge was referred to in official South African Railways publications as instead of 1067 mm.[12]
In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge.[13]
Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand.[14] [15]
In Australia, this gauge is typically referred to as narrow gauge in comparison to standard gauge or broad gauge. In some instances, simply 3 foot 6 inch — or in rarer cases medium gauge — is used to distinguish it from other narrow gauges.[16]
See also: Rail gauge in Australia.
In Japan the gauge, along with other narrow gauges, is referred to as, which directly translates as narrow gauge, to differentiate it from the Shinkansen lines. It is defined in metric units. It is commonly referred to as, which derives from the 3 ft 6 in.
Similar, but incompatible without wheelset adjustment, rail gauges in respect of aspects such as cost of construction, practical minimum radius curves and the maximum physical dimensions of rolling stock are:
Dual gauge between gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges.
| Country/territory | Notes |
|---|---|
| Angola | Rail transport in Angola, some converted from gauge and . Some isolated. |
| Australia | See also: Rail gauge in Australia. 11930km (7,410miles). New South Wales: the heritage Zig Zag Railway. Queensland: 8146km (5,062miles). South Australia: the isolated Eyre Peninsula Railway, and the heritage Pichi Richi Railway. Victoria: the heritage Bellarine Railway line. Tasmania: 611km (380miles). Western Australia: 2970km (1,850miles). Northern Territory (closed). |
| Barbados | Barbados Railway (converted to gauge) (defunct) |
| Botswana | The Botswana Railways system consists of of gauge track. |
| Canada | See also: Narrow-gauge railways in Canada. Western New Brunswick until gauge conversion in the 1880s; the Newfoundland Railway until abandonment in September 1988; and the Prince Edward Island Railway until gauge conversion in 1930 following a car ferry connection with the main North America system. |
| China | South Manchuria Railway — built to as part of the Chinese Eastern Railway, converted by advancing Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 to Japanese gauge, converted to standard gauge after the war by the new South Manchuria Railway Company.[17] |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of | 3621 km gauge (858abbr=onNaNabbr=on electrified). Some converted from and gauge. |
| Congo, Republic of | The Congo–Ocean Railway, long (operating). |
| Costa Rica | Operation of the national railway network was suspended in 1995 after an earthquake. As of 2013, some suburban lines are operational. |
| Dominican Republic | Samaná to Santiago Railway, (later Ferrocarriles Unidos Dominicanos) 139km (86miles), in operation from 1887 to 1976 (defunct)[18] |
| Ecuador | Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos, 965km (600miles)[19] |
| Estonia | Tallinn tram of 38km (24miles), on all lines from the beginning in 1888, only on some lines in 1915–1931, and again on all lines from 1931. |
| Eswatini | , only for transportation of goods, not passengers |
| Ghana | The national rail network of 935km (581miles) is undergoing major rehabilitation. |
| Haiti | Saint-Marc line (defunct) |
| Honduras | See main article: article and Rail transport in Honduras. |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Tramways |
| Indonesia | 8159km (5,070miles) as of 2014, with only 4816km (2,993miles) operational.[20] Most common gauge for main lines of Sumatra and Java. The first railway was actually built to standard gauge (the Semarang–Solo–Yogyakarta corridor), but later lines were built to cape-gauge size owing to economic feasibility. The remainder of standard gauge lines were regauged by Japanese army during World War II to gauge, with parts using standard gauge sleepers. The gauge is also used by KRL Commuterline, Jakarta MRT and Palembang LRT. |
| Ireland | See main article: article and List of narrow gauge railways in Ireland. |
| Isle of Man | Snaefell Mountain Railway |
| Japan | 22301km (13,857miles).[21] First track gauge introduced. All JR Group lines and some private railways use this gauge except for high-speed shinkansen lines which use standard gauge. |
| Jersey | Jersey Railway (defunct). Partly converted from |
| Malawi | Malawi Railways has 797km (495miles) of gauge railways. |
| Mozambique | Mozambique Ports and Railways operates 2983km (1,854miles) of gauge. |
| Namibia | TransNamib operates 2883km (1,791miles) of gauge, partly converted from gauge. |
| Netherlands | Some tramway systems (all defunct) |
| New Zealand | 3900km (2,400miles), standardized by the Public Works Act 1870[22] |
| Nicaragua | 373km (232miles) of track until closure of the national rail network in 1993. All lifted and scrapped. |
| Nigeria | Nigerian Railway Corporation operates an isolated network of 3505km (2,178miles) gauge single track lines. |
| Norway | The gauge was first used by C A Pihl on the Hamar-Grundset Line, opened 23 June 1862.[23] Most lines were gauge lines built in the 19th century were rebuilt to standard gauge between 1904 and 1949. The Setesdal Line, a heritage railway line of about eight km remains gauge. |
| Panama | Panama Tramways Company (1913–1917) and the Panama Electric Company (1917–1941).[24] |
| Philippines | The Philippine National Railways operates a 72km (45miles) Metro Manila–Laguna segment of its old 1140km (710miles) network; Panay Railways had 154km (96miles) in Panay and Cebu. PNR will re-gauge its entire network to . |
| Sierra Leone | There are 84 kilometres of gauge private railways in Sierra Leone. |
| South Africa | About 20,500 route-km.[25] [26] Gautrain (80 km) is and there were several limited narrow gauge systems. |
| South Sudan | Isolated, 248km (154miles) |
| Spain | The line from Cartagena to Los Blancos was originally, but was converted to in 1976, at the same time as the line was extended to Los Nietos.[27] |
| Sudan | Isolated, 4725km (2,936miles) |
| Sweden | Several during the 19th century, all closed or regauged. |
| Taiwan | 1097km (682miles) (Taiwan Railway) |
| Tanzania | Dar es Salaam to Zambia (TAZARA Railway only, rest of the network is . |
| Turkey | Chemin de Fer Moudania Brousse |
| United Kingdom | See main article: article and Three foot six inch gauge railways in the United Kingdom. |
| United States | See main article: article and Three foot six inch gauge railways in the United States. |
| Venezuela | Great Venezuela Railway |
| Zambia | Zambia Railways, Mulobezi Railway |
| Zimbabwe | National Railways of Zimbabwe |