Now we only need the announcement of Deutsche Bahn to convert fully to electrical, abandoning the gas locomotives, paving the way to interact with more advanced railway nations like Poland.
Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
31–40 of 465 posts
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#32Just note Finland uses the Tsarist Russian 1524 mm gauge. Not the Allied Soviet 1520 mm gauge.
Interesting. In practice they seem compatible? There were frequent trains running between Helsinki and Saint Petersburg, I remember taking it and there was a seamless transition across the border.
Yes it is in tolerances. But the specification is different.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you can ”upgrade” the tracks to use three rails so you can handle both track widths. Also there are trains with adjustabe axle widths.
Not possible here because the widths are too close together to install a third rail.
Given the small difference, maybe the easiest option is to "just" update the wheel axles of the entire fleet in the same time and at the same speed as the tracks.
Wheels are anyway wearing parts and are to be changed periodically.
BTW, I'm just speculating out loud.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#34The rest of europe should move to the broader guage. It is more stable.
The difference is so marginal it doesn't matter, and is certainly not worth the cost.
Both the heaviest cargo trains and the fastest passenger trains (ignoring monorails, maglevs etc., just normal style trains running on two steel rails) on the planet run on standard gauge.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#35Doing this is a really nice opportunity for Finland. The should bundle it with many other upgrade. Doing general maintenance. Upgrade all the signaling (ETCS L2). Overhead electrify everything. Do minor speed upgrades. And so on.
If you are not doing all of this at once, this likely isn't worth it.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Was there a comparable large scale rail infrastructure change in some other country? Baltic states attempted this (project Rail Baltica). Lots of EU money were spent with no visible result. I guess, several people in Baltic states became super rich, but in terms of rail infrastructure nothing was done.
No visible result is the goal. The change is minimal but makes the system compatible with other EU carriages. Did the Baltics attempt this or succeed?
They're clearly referring to economic results.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#37Just note Finland uses the Tsarist Russian 1524 mm gauge. Not the Allied Soviet 1520 mm gauge.
Not incidentally, 1524mm is exactly 5 feet. Which was the rail gauge widely used in the southern US states. The Russian tsar hired someone who had been building railroads in the US south to design his railroad, and here we are.
The 1520mm was some Soviet effort to "metrify" their railways while keeping compatibility with existing rolling stock.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#38This is a strategic move: it makes it easier to move weapons within Europe and makes it much harder for Russia should they invade. Ideally you would want to do this all over Europe.
Most of Europe is already on the same track width. I'm not sure whether the loading gauge (allowed size of train to fit under bridges) etc. is also standardized; it wasn't for the UK, which is why we can't have nice things like double decker commuter trains.
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#39> The government is expected to make the final decision by July 2027
You can't announce migration if you haven't decided you plan to migrate...
Re: Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge
#40The rest of europe should move to the broader guage. It is more stable.
The difference is so marginal it doesn't matter, and is certainly not worth the cost. Both the heaviest cargo trains and the fastest passenger trains (ignoring monorails, maglevs etc., just normal style trains running on two steel rails) on the planet run on standard gauge.
It would also make switches and curves larger so it would not be possible in constrained (city) environments already present.