Today’s SCMP had an article regarding the proposed HongKong-Zhuhai (香港～珠海) bridge, and how transport minister Sarah Liao pledges not to allow a repeat of the recent Easter Harbour Tunnel fiasco. What caught my eye was totally unrelated to this – but the article did mention right at the end that: “Hong Kong and Zhuhai also have different train systems, adding to the complexity of a train route.” [Hence they decided against a railway line].
I didn’t think Hong Kong and Zhuhai had incompatible train systems – so I looked it up and found this interesting page.
The SCMP is half right – the MTR system runs off the same gauge as the London Underground (1432mm), which makes sense since it was built by the British in the 1970′s and probably modeled on the tube. The KCR however does run on standard gauge (1435mm) and is hence compatible with the mainland railway system. What I didn’t realise was the MTR & KCR had a 3mm variation, as indeed does the tube vs. the mainline railways.
There are of course genuine reasons for choosing narrow vs. broad gauge railways – narrow tends to be cheaper to build and saves space but is less stable than broad gauge. It’s nice to see more of the world adopting a standard, as shown in this list, but it appears we’re still far away from a truly integrated railway system.
Why is 1435mm standard? Contrary to the urban myth about the backside of two horses, Discover Live Steam believes they have the true answer. 5ft (1524mm) however, is generally regarded as the minimum optimal gauge – so is this another example of the world adopting a less technically-sound solution for standardisation’s sake, perhaps?
