Chapter: Civil : Railway Airport Harbour Engineering : Railway Engineering : Railway Track Gauge
Different Gauges on Indian Railways
Different Gauges on Indian Railways
The East India Company
intended to adopt the standard gauge of 1435 mm in India also. This proposal
was, however, challenged by Mr W. Simms, Consulting Engineer to the Government
of India, who recommended a wider gauge of 1676 mm (5'6" ).
The Court of Directors of the East India Company decided to adopt Mr Simms's
recommendation and 5'6" finally became the Indian standard
gauge. In 1871, the Government of India wanted to construct cheaper railways
for the development of the country and the 1000-mm metre gauge was introduced.
In due course of time, two more gauges with widths of 762 mm (2'6"
) and 610 mm (2'0" ) were introduced for thinly populated
areas, mountain railways, and other miscellaneous purposes.
The details of the
various gauges existing on Indian Railways are given in Table 2.2.
Table
2.2 Various gauges
on Indian Railways
Name of gauge Width (mm) Width (feet) Route % of route
kilometres kilometres
Broad gauge (BG) 1676 5'6" 39,612 63.2
Metre gauge (MG) 1000 3'3.37" 19,210 30.7
Narrow gauge (NG) 762 2'6" 3838 6.1
610 2'0"
Total - - 62,660 100
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