5 ms·

Off topic, but some trains can even change gauge while in motion: https://www.reddit.com/r/trains/comments/kq6eds/this_is_how_trains_change_gauge_while_moving_1

• m4rtink 4mo ago
  This is actually quite a significant technical achievement - for example, a similar project in Japan failed. Japanese Railways wanted to build a train that can run at full speed (~300 km/h) on the standard gauge (1435 mm) regular Shinkansen lines but also use the narrow gauge (1067 mm) existing lines at slower speed. Those older lines would not have to be rebuilt for the Shinkansen standard & there would still be significant time savings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_Change_Train https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_Change_Train This failed to produce a viable train, resulting in falling back to track rebuilds or using relay trains that connect directly from Shinkansen to the local rail line on the same platform.
  • m463 4mo ago
    They don't seem to say why it didn't work. I wonder if it was not just the change in gauge, but tolerances as well. I got to see "Dr. Yellow" running on the shinkansen line and it checks everything out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Yellow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Yellow I wonder if the slower-speed lines have looser tolerances. Then maybe running the gauge-change train on the slower lines might kill the train's tolerances before it moves back to the super smooth high-speed lines.
• jeffrallen 4mo ago
  Swiss trains can, but while stopped. There's a station on the main line that loads full sized cars with tanks on them onto little bougies that take them up into the mountains for training.
  • mahkeiro 4mo ago
    Swiss train can do it in motion, the post above is about the MOB train that can go from Montreux (meter gauge) to Interlaken (standard gauge).