A variable gauge system allows railway vehicles in a train to travel across a break of gauge between two railway networks with different track gauges. For through operation, a train must be equipped with special bogies holding variable gauge wheelsets which contain a variable gauge axle (VGA).
The gauge is altered by driving the train through a gauge changer or gauge changing facility. As the train passes through the gauge changer, the wheels are unlocked, are moved closer together, or further apart, and are then re-locked. Installed variable gauge systems exist within the internal network of Spain, and are installed on international links between Spain/France (Spanish train), Sweden/Finland (Swedish train), Poland/Lithuania (Polish train) and Poland/Ukraine (Polish train).
A system for changing gauge without the need to stop is in widespread use for passenger traffic in Spain,[1] for services run on a mix of dedicated high-speed lines (using Standard gauge) and older lines (using Iberian gauge).[2] Similar systems for freight traffic are still in their infancy, as the higher axle weight increases the technological challenge. Although several alternatives exist, including transferring freight, replacing individual wheels and axles, bogie exchange, transporter flatcars or the simple transshipment of freight or passengers, they are impractical, thus a cheap and fast system for changing gauge would be beneficial for cross-border freight traffic.[3]
Alternative names include Gauge Adjustable Wheelsets (GAW), Automatic Track Gauge Changeover System (ATGCS/TGCS), Rolling Stock Re-Gauging System (RSRS), Rail Gauge Adjustment System (RGAS), Shifting wheelset,[4]Variable Gauge Rolling Truck,[5]track gauge change and track change wheelset.
Overview
Variable gauge axles help solve the problem of a break-of-gauge without having to resort to dual gauge tracks or transshipment. Systems allow the adjustment between two gauges. No gauge changer designs supporting more than two gauges are used.[6]
Systems
Variable gauge axle DR III for 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and 1,524 mm (5 ft) gauge, developed in 1957
The BRAVA system was originally designed in 1968 by the Vevey Company in Switzerland. The system was originally called the "Vevey axle".[15][16] The design was subsequently obtained and improved by Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
The variable gauge systems are not themselves all compatible. The SUW 2000 and Rafil Type V systems are interoperable,[7] as are TALGO-RD and CAF-BRAVA.[28]
In 2009, at Roda de Barà near Tarragona, a Unichanger capable of handling four different VGA systems was under development.[29]
International traffic
VGA is particularly important with international railway traffic because gauge changes tend to occur more often at international borders.
Features
Different systems have different limitations, for example, some can be used on carriages and wagons only and are unsuitable for motive power, while others require that rolling stock is unloaded before going through the gauge changer.[30] When one of the gauges is narrow there may not be enough space between the wheels for the Brakes, Gauge Changer and the Traction Motors.
The maximum speed of the trains equipped with the different technologies varies. Only CAF and Talgo produce high-speed VGA, allowing speeds up to 250 km/h.
Speed changing
The Talgo RD GC changes gauge at a speed of 15 kilometres per hour (9.3 mph; 4.2 m/s) so a 100 m (328 ft) train takes only 24 seconds to convert.[31]
A gauge changer is a device which forces the gauge adjustment in the wheels. Designs consist of a pair of running rails that gradually vary in width between the two gauges, combined with other rails and levers to perform the following steps, using Talgo RD as an example:
Verify that all vehicles in train are suitable for Gauge Change.
Support on – takes weight off lock and on the guide rails.
Unlock.
Move wheels to new position.
Relock.
Support off – put weight back on lock from the guide rails.
Verify correct operation and generate statistics. Use ECPB power and supervisory cables.
In the Spanish Talgo-RD system, a constant spray of water is used to lubricate the metal surfaces, to reduce heat and wear. A Talgo RD gauge changer is 20 m (65 ft 7 in) long and 6 m (19 ft 8 in) wide. [32]
Limitations
At present[when?] the choice of gauge is limited to two out of three of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and broad gauges 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) and 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in). With narrow gauges such as 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) as found at Zweisimmen, Switzerland, there is less room between the wheels for the gauge change mechanism, the traction motors, and the brakes. The diameter of the wheels also limits the axleload to no more than 22.5 tonnes.
Operation
A variable gauge multiple unit, or a train including a variable gauge locomotive (e.g. Talgo 250) and rolling stock, may drive straight across a gauge changer. Normally the locomotive will not be able to change gauge, meaning that it must move out of the way whilst the remainder of the train itself passes through. On the opposite side, a new locomotive of the other gauge will couple to the train.
A Talgo train with a locomotive can drive across a gauge change at 1 axle per second at a speed of about 10–15 km/h (6.2–9.3 mph).[33][34]
A train (or an individual car) can be pushed halfway across the gauge-changer, uncoupled, and then (once far enough across) coupled to the new locomotive and pulled the rest of the way. A long length of wire-rope with hooks on the end means that the process can be asynchronous, with the rope used to bridge across the length of the gauge changer (to temporarily couple the arriving cars and receiving locomotive, although without braking control from the locomotive to the train vehicles).
On long-distance trains in Spain and night trains crossing from Spain into France, the arriving locomotive stops just short of the gauge changer, uncouples and moves into a short siding out of the way. Gravity then moves the train through the gauge changer at a controlled low speed. The new locomotive is coupled onto the front only after the full train has finished passing through the changer.
From 2014 gauge changing systems for freight wagons were being developed.[35]
Countries
Australia
In 1933, as many as 140 inventions[36] were offered to Australia railways to overcome the breaks of gauge between the different states. None was accepted.[37] About 20 of these devices were adjustable wheels/axles of some kind or another, which may be analogous to the modern VGA. VGA systems were mostly intended for Broad Gauge and Standard Gauge lines.
Break of Gauge stations were installed at Port Pirie, Peterborough and Albury; these were fairly manual in operation. The newest installation was at Dry Creek and was of a more automatic design. The Talgo RD design is even more automatic and efficient.
Belarus/Poland
A Talgo gauge changing facility is installed at Brest near the Belarusian-Polish border. It is used by Russian Railways' fast trains connecting Moscow and Berlin.
Orders for 7 Talgo VGA trainsets placed were placed in 2011.[38] The trains under the brand "Strizh" are in service since 2016.
Canada
Variable gauge axles were used for a while on the Grand Trunk Railway in the 1860s in Canada to connect 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) and 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge without transshipment. Five hundred vehicles were fitted with "adjustable gauge trucks" but following heavy day-in, day-out use the system proved unsatisfactory, particularly in cold and snowy weather. The system used telescoping axles with wide hubs that allowed the wheels to be squeezed or stretched apart through a gauge-changer, after holding pins had been manually released.[39][40][41]
In 1999, a gauge-changer was installed at Tornio at the Finnish end of the dual-gauge section between Haparanda and Tornio, for use with variable gauge freight wagons.[43] The Tornio gauge changer is a Rafil design from Germany; a similar Talgo-RD gauge changer at the Haparanda end used to exist, but was removed[44] as it required de-icing in winter.[45]
A new gauge changer has been put in place in Akhalkalaki for Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. Northwestern end has rails 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) apart, southeastern end has rails 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) apart. Both bogie exchange and variable gauge adapters are provided.
Japan
The Japanese third-generation GCT "Gauge Change Train" EMU on a test run in November 2014
The "Gauge Change Train" is a project started in Japan in the 1990s to investigate the feasibility of producing an electric multiple unit (EMU) train capable of operating both the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Shinkansen high-speed network at 270–300 km/h (168–186 mph) and the original 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) network at 130–140 km/h (81–87 mph).[46][47] See U.S. patent 5,816,170.[48][49]
The first-generation train was tested from 1998 to 2006, including on the US High-speed Test Track in 2002.[50][51] The second-generation train, intended to run at a maximum speed of 270 km/h (168 mph), was test-run in various locations in Japan between 2006 and 2013.[52] A third-generation train has been undergoing reliability trials since 2014 in preparation for potential introduction to service on the planned Kyushu Shinkansen extension to Nagasaki.
The first-generation "Gauge Change Train" EMU in May 2003
The second-generation "Gauge Change Train" EMU in September 2012
Lithuania/Poland
A gauge changing facility of the Polish SUW 2000 system is installed at Mockava north of the Lithuanian-Polish border. VGA passenger trains between Lithuania and Poland were running between October 1999 and May 2005, and VGA goods trains between early 2000s and 2009.
Poland/Ukraine
There are two gauge changing facilities of the Polish SUW 2000 system installed on the Polish-Ukrainian border, one of them in Dorohusk (Poland) on the Warsaw-Kiyv line, another in Mostyska (Ukraine) on the Kraków-Lviv line. On 14 December 2003 VGA passenger trains were introduced between Kraków (Poland) and Lviv (Ukraine) instead of bogie exchange.[53] VGA saves about 3 hours compared to bogie exchange. The trains last ran in 2016.[54]
Spain
Spain is the largest user of variable gauge systems. This is because of the need to connect older mainlines built to Iberian gauge and extensive new high-speed railway lines and connections to France, using the standard gauge. Two gauge changes are installed on lines to France and at all entrances/exits leading between the high-speed network and older lines. There are also significant lengths of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) secondary lines but these are not connected to the main network.
In February 2004, RENFE placed orders for:
Forty-five CAF/Alstom 25 kV AC/3 kV DC, variable gauge EMUs for 250 km/h regional services, between October 2006 and May 2009 (€580 million)[citation needed]
Twenty-six 25 kV AC variable gauge trains for 250 km/h (155 mph) long-distance services using two Bombardier power cars and Talgo Series VII trailer cars (€370 million)[citation needed] Gauges involved are 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) and 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in).
Variable gauge axles are implemented on the Montreux–Gstaad–Zweisimmen–Spiez–Interlaken line. Trains automatically switch from 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) at Zweisimmen.[57] A trial bogie has been built and tested. It has no axles which allow the bogie half frames holding the wheels on both sides to slide sideways to each other.[58] The EV09-Prose[59][60] gauge changer at Zweisimmen was satisfactorily tested on 19 June 2019. The system has been designed to allow operation on both Montreux Oberland Bernois Railway’s (MOB) 1000mm gauge line and BLS AG 1435mm gauge infrastructure.
United Kingdom
John Fowler mentions in 1886 at attempt by the GWR to develop a "telescopical" axle.[61]
Trams ran between Leeds (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in or 1,435 mmstandard gauge) and Bradford (4 ft or 1,219 mm gauge) following a successful trial in 1906 using Bradford tram car number 124. The system was later patented by – GB190601695 (A) of 1906. This system was improved again in patent GB190919655 (A) of 1909 by introducing a locking system acting on the wheel and axle rather than just the wheel rim. This provided a more effective grip where the wheel was free to move along the splined axle.[62][63]
Comparison with bogie exchange
Time taken
In VGA, the train is pulled through the "adjuster" at about 15 km/h (9.3 mph)[64] without any need to uncouple the wagons or disconnect (and test) the brake equipment. Alternatively, as the train need not be uncoupled, the locomotive may pull the coupled carriages all together.[65]
Steam locomotive are generally not gauge convertible on-the-fly. While diesel locomotives can be bogie exchanged,[67] this is not normally done owing to the complexity in the reconnection of cables and hoses. In Australia, some locomotives are transferred between gauges. The transfer might happen every few months, but not for an individual trip.
By 2004, variable gauge electric passenger locomotives were available from Talgo.[68][69][70] It is not clear if variable gauge freight locomotives are available.
Talgo 250 locomotives were also planned to haul dual-voltage variable-gauge trainsets from Montpellier 200 km (124 mi) from the border to Barcelona and Madrid. Two Talgo 250 power cars haul 11 passenger trailer cars.[72][73]
A gauge adjustable bogie complete with wheelsets weighs a total of about one ton/tonne more than a conventional bogie and normally must use disc brakes, which cool more slowly.[56][72]
^ abcdefKanclerz, Miroslaw (9 October 2007). "Study on European Automatic Track Gauge Changeover Systems (ATGCS)"(PDF). Gdańsk: UIC. Retrieved 7 December 2008. Variable gauge systems: SUW 2000, Poland; DBAG/Rafil Type V, Germany; CAF BRAVA, Spain; Talgo RD, Spain; Japan RTRI; Korea KRRI [..] DB Rafil Type V and PKP SUW 2000 are technically compatible and thereby 'interoperable'
^Schwartze, Matthias. "Gauge change system could help ease movement between countries". Rail International/Live Engineer. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008. The DB AG/Rafil Type V change gauge wheel set consists of a wheel set shaft and two axially displaceable solid wheels, which are joined to the shaft by a locking system. The solid wheel has been derived from the well-proved solid wheel of the 004 type of DB AG.
^Gasanov, Isolde; Hoffmann, Hans-Karsten (2007). "Automatische Spurwechseltechnik für Güterwagen: Derzeit wird der Warenaustausch auf der Schiene durch die in Europa vorhandenen unterschiedlichen Spurweiten stark beeinträchtigt" [Automated gauge-change system for freight wagons]. Eisenbahntechnische Rundschau (in German). 6: 318–26. INIST18819553.
^Gyr, Christoph (13 February 2023). "Split-frame bogies overcome the break of gauge". International Railway Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2023. For the bogie, compatibility with the two track gauges is ensured by moving sideways the bogie halves with the wheels mounted on them, and by raising the air spring mounted on the bogie cross member from the low to high platform height. [...] At the end of 2008 Prose began work to develop a prototype bogie based on MOB's concepts, while the two companies worked together on a protype gauge-changing facility.
^"Introduction". Niagara Rails. Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2008. two mechanical solutions were tried: the GWR used a dual gauge system requiring a third rail, and the GTR used adjustable gauge trucks. However neither method proved satisfactory, and full conversion to standard gauge became necessary
^"Break of Gauge at Prescott Junction". Bytown Railway Society, Branchline, June 2003. Colin Churcher's railway pages. June 2003. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008. The scheme selected was patented by C.D. Tisdale of East Boston, Massachusetts, with the first patent having been issued in March 1863. Special wheels with extra-large hubs were fitted with key wedges. The axles were notched so that the wheels could be set at standard or 5 -foot 6-inch gauge. The keys were locked in place by a long safety pin and giant rubber bands. The position of the wheel was shifted by a gradually diverging or converging track. In the shift from broad to standard, the keys would be loosened and removed at one end of the tapering track, workmen in a 4-foot-deep pit removed the keys from below the train. A long shed was built over the pits to protect the workmen. With the keys out, the train was slowly pushed down the track, and the wheels-would be forced inward as the train moved along the converging rails. Once at the end, the workers would reinsert and lock the wedges and the train could go on its way. The change could be done in five to ten minutes. When shifting to broad gauge, a third rail set inside the tapering track pushed the wheel out to the wider gauge. Shifting stations were located at Pointe-Saint-Charles, Montreal, and Sarnia, Ontario. The plan was first tried in November 1863, yet no serious consideration was given to it until early 1868. The tests proved so promising that by late in the following year two hundred adjustable-gauge cars were running between Chicago and Boston via the Michigan Central, the Grand Trunk, the Vermont Central, and several connecting lines in New England. The problems of the northern east-west route seemed to have been resolved, and three hundred more cars were ordered by National Despatch. [...] his disruptive and costly conversion might have been avoided had the variable-gauge trucks worked as well as advertised. Problems obviously had developed. The keyway grooves were said to weaken the axles. Misgivings over the safety of the telescoping axles were voiced as early as 1846, long before the Grand Trunk test. Considerable skepticism was expressed as to the reliability of the workmen charged with loosening and tightening so many wheels day in and day out.
^"VR Annual Report 1998"(PDF). VR Group. 1998. p. 12. Retrieved 17 September 2008. Traffic between Tornio and Haaparanta continued to decline slightly. Measures were taken to boost the volume on this line by speeding up border crossing formalities. Development of a new track gauge changing machine made further progress and testing will be started in Tornio in the early spring of 1999. This machine will raise traffic volumes between Finland and Scandinavia.
^Thorsten Büker (December 2004). "border lines Sweden – Finland". Retrieved 17 September 2008. In 2002 through workings by suitable wagons had been involved in cooperation of Finnish VR, Green Cargo and Nordwaggon. A Gauge-changer of German design "Rafil" was installed at Tornia [sic]; a Talgo-type gauge changer at Haparanda. This one was already taken out of use.
^Lars-Åke Josefsson (15 March 2007). "A bridge between differences in infrastructure"(PDF). Automatic track gauge technique. Banverket (Swedish National Rail Administration). pp. 14, 18. Archived from the original(PDF) on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2008. Trials with systems with automatic track gauge change technique have been going on at the border between Sweden and Finland since 1997 during severe winter conditions. Two different systems, the Spanish Talgo system and the German Rafil system, have been tested. We have decided to go on with the Rafil system. [...] 14 bogies has been bought. Commercial traffic has been going on since October 2005.
^"GIF develops dual-gauge track". International Railway Journal. March 2002. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008. A new test track, which opened in December 2001, is being used to help develop and test the dual-gauge concept. The 14.4 km track between Olmedo and Medina del Campo in Valladolid province, includes 10 km of tangent track (part of the old Segovia-Medina line, which has been out of service since 1993), a gauge-changing facility, workshops, and a technical building for the interlocking. ... The test track is not yet electrified, so initial tests, which started in January, were conducted using a Talgo XXI diesel train. Tests include running through turnouts and crossings at a maximum of 242 km/h on plain track and 110 km/h on deviations.
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