Swedish three foot gauge railways

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Track gauge
By transport mode
By size (list)
Graphic list of track gauges
Minimum
  Fifteen inch 381 mm (15 in)
Narrow
 
  • 600 mm
  • 610 mm
  • (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
  • (2 ft)
 
  • 750 mm
  • 760 mm
  • 762 mm
  • (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
  • (2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
  • (2 ft 6 in)
 
  • 891 mm
  • 900 mm
  • 914 mm
  • (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
  • (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
  • (3 ft)
  Metre 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
  Three foot six inch 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
  Four foot zero inch 1,219 mm (4 ft 0 in)
  Four foot six inch 1,372 mm (4 ft 6 in)
  Standard 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Broad
  Dresden gauge 1,450 mm (4 ft 9+3⁄32 in)
  Leipzig gauge 1,458 mm (4 ft 9+13⁄32 in)
  Toronto gauge 1,495 mm (4 ft 10+7⁄8 in)
 
  • 1,520 mm
  • 1,524 mm
  • (4 ft 11+7⁄8 in)
  • (5 ft)
 
  • 1,581 mm
  • 1,588 mm
  • 1,600 mm
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
  • (5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
  • (5 ft 3 in)
  Baltimore gauge 1,638 mm (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
 
  • 1,668 mm
  • 1,676 mm
  • (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
  • (5 ft 6 in)
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The Roslagen railway, a suburban railway north of Stockholm using the Swedish three foot gauge.

Swedish three-foot gauge railways (Swedish: "trefotsbanor") are railways with the gauge 891 mm (2 ft 11+3⁄32 in), or 3 Swedish feet in the old Swedish measurement system.[1] Railways with this gauge have only existed in Sweden.[1] This was the most common narrow gauge in Sweden.[1] As of 2016, the total network with this gauge is 65 km, all of which is electrified[2] (excluding lines which only remain as heritage railways).

Sweden once had some fairly extensive narrow-gauge railways, but most are now closed. Some were converted to standard gauge (the latest one was KBJ, , between Berga and Kalmar in the 1970s) and some remain as heritage railways.

The only commercial Swedish three foot gauge railway still in use is the suburban railway Roslagsbanan ('the Roslagen Railway') in north-eastern Stockholm. The parts of this railway which is still in use will be in continual use in the foreseeable future, with new trains to be delivered in 2020[3] and there are even plans for a new line to connect this railway to Arlanda Airport.

A branch line of Roslagsbanan, Långängsbanan, was built in 1911 and ran for some years as an isolated standard gauge tramway in anticipation of a planned conversion of the main line to raise its capacity, but those plans came to naught and the branch was rebuilt to narrow gauge in 1934; it is closed since 1966.

The Nordmark-Klarälvens Järnväg (NKlJ) was a 175 km network issued from different lines built from 1873. It was electrified in 1920, with 15 AEG-locomotives. A new class of 5 locomotives (ASEA) went in 1961. The network was dismantled in 1990. Only Karlstad-Skoghall was regauged to standard gauge and transferred to SJ.[4]

The longest remaining Swedish three foot gauge railway is the 126 km heritage line from Åseda to Virserum, Hultsfred and Västervik. 70 km (43 mi) between Hultsfred and Västervik are served by daily tourist trains in the summer, including 4 km (2.5 mi) of dual gauge track. Tourist railbuses also run along the southernmost 27 km (Åseda–Virserum), albeit less frequent. The middle section (Virserum–Hultsfred, 29 km) is only used by draisines or not at all.

The Vadstena–Fågelsta narrow gauge railway was part of a larger network in Östergötland.

The gauge difference to the internationally much more used 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) is small, only 9 mm, and some used 900 mm vehicles have been brought to Sweden and given a slight wheel adaptation (reducing the flange by 4 mm or 0.157 in using turning).

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Erik Sundström (1999-11-10). "Trefotsbanor". Historiskt om Svenska Järnvägar (in Swedish). Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  2. ^ The World Factbook, FIELD LISTING :: RAILWAYS, CIA, accessed on 18 November 2020
  3. ^ "SL köper in nya tåg till Roslagsbanan". SL. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  4. ^ article in swedish
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