Product Code Database
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 track 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, even though 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 of gauge track in the world, which are classified as narrow-gauge railways.
In Sweden, the gauge was nicknamed Blekinge gauge, as most of the railways in the province of Blekinge had this gauge.
Colonial Gauge was used in New Zealand.
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.
In Japan the gauge, along with other narrow gauges, is referred to as kyōki, 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 36 gauge, which derives from the 3 ft 6 in.
Dual gauge between gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges.
| Angola | Rail transport in Angola, some converted from gauge and . Some isolated. |
| Australia | . New South Wales: the heritage Zig Zag Railway. Queensland: . South Australia: the isolated Eyre Peninsula Railway, and the heritage Pichi Richi Railway. Victoria: the heritage Bellarine Railway line. Tasmania: . Western Australia: . Northern Territory (closed). |
| Barbados | Barbados Railway (converted to gauge) (defunct) |
| Botswana | The Botswana Railways system consists of of gauge track. |
| 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. Railway and Locomotive Engineering, vol. 26 (1913), pp. 91–92 |
| Congo, Democratic Republic of | 3621 km gauge ( 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) , in operation from 1887 to 1976 (defunct) Dominican Republic public service railways, 1870–1990 (Los ferrocarriles de servicio público de República Dominicana, 1870–1990) by Antonio Santamaría García (1993), table 4 "Empresas ferroviarias de servicio público de República Dominicana", pp. 13 |
| Ecuador | Empresa de Ferrocarriles Ecuatorianos, |
| Estonia | Tallinn tram of , 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 is undergoing major rehabilitation. |
| Haiti | Saint-Marc line (defunct) |
| Honduras | |
| Hong Kong | Hong Kong Tramways |
| Indonesia | as of 2014, with only operational. Most common gauge for main lines of Sumatra and Java. The first railway was actually built to standard gauge (the Semarang–Surakarta–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 | |
| Isle of Man | Snaefell Mountain Railway |
| Japan | . 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 of gauge railways. |
| Mozambique | Mozambique Ports and Railways operates of gauge. |
| Namibia | TransNamib operates of gauge, partly converted from gauge. |
| Netherlands | Some tramway systems (all defunct) |
| New Zealand | , standardized by the Public Works Act 1870 |
| Nicaragua | of track until closure of the national rail network in 1993. All lifted and scrapped. |
| Nigeria | Nigerian Railway Corporation operates an isolated network of gauge single track lines. |
| Norway | The gauge was first used by C A Pihl on the Hamar-Grundset Line, opened 23 June 1862.Bjerke, T. & Holom, F. (2004) Banedata 2004. Hamar/Oslo: Norsk Jernbanemuseum & Norsk Jernbaneklubb. p. 98 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). |
| Philippines | The Philippine National Railways operates a Metro Manila–Laguna segment of its old network; Panay Railways had in Panay and Cebu. PNR will re-gauge its entire network to . |
| Sierra Leone | There are 84 kilometres of gauge private in Sierra Leone. |
| South Africa | About 20,500 route-km.Spoornet (Transnet's predecessor), Manual for Track Maintenance, July 2000, http://www.spoornet.co.za/SpoornetWebContentSAP/documents/track_maintenance.pdf Transnet Annual Report 2010, Operational Review, http://www.overendstudio.co.za/online_reports/transnet_ar2011/op_freight.php Gautrain (80 km) is and there were several limited narrow gauge systems. |
| South Sudan | Isolated, |
| 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.Ferropedia - Ferrocarril Cartagena - Los Nietos, http://ferropedia.es/wiki/Ferrocarril_Cartagena_-_Los_Nietos |
| Sudan | Isolated, |
| Sweden | Several during the 19th century, all closed or regauged. |
| Taiwan | (Taiwan Railway) |
| Tanzania | Dar es Salaam to Zambia (TAZARA Railway only, rest of the network is . |
| Turkey | Chemin de Fer Moudania Brousse |
| United Kingdom | |
| United States | |
| Venezuela | Great Venezuela Railway |
| Zambia | Zambia Railways, Mulobezi Railway |
| Zimbabwe | National Railways of Zimbabwe |
|
|
