A variable gauge system allows railway vehicles in a train to travel across a break of gauge caused by two railway networks with differing track gauges.
For through-operation, a train must be equipped with special trucks holding variable gauge wheelsets containing 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, 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).
Several alternatives exist, including transferring freight, replacing individual wheels and axles, truck exchange, transporter flatcars or the simple transshipment of freight or passengers.
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, Variable Gauge Rolling Truck, track gauge change and track change wheelset.
Read more about Variable Gauge: Overview, Gauge Changer, History
Famous quotes containing the word variable:
“There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady’s head-dress.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)