Track gauge in South America

The gauges of major South American railways as of 2023.
  3 ft gauge (914 mm)

  Meter gauge (1,000 mm)

  3 ft 6 in gauge (1,067 mm)

  Standard gauge (1,435 mm)

  5 ft 3 in gauge (1,600 mm)

  5 ft 6 in gauge (1,676 mm)



Minimum
Fifteen inch	381 mm	(15 in)

Narrow
600 mm	600 mm	(1 ft 11+5⁄8 in)
Two foot	610 mm	(2 ft)
Two foot three inch	686 mm	(2 ft 3 in)
750 mm	750 mm	(2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Bosnian gauge	760 mm	(2 ft 5+15⁄16 in)
Two foot six inch	762 mm	(2 ft 6 in)
Swedish three foot	891 mm	(2 ft 11+3⁄32 in)
900 mm	900 mm	(2 ft 11+7⁄16 in)
Three foot	914 mm	(3 ft)
Italian metre	950 mm	(3 ft1+13⁄32 in)
Metre	1,000 mm	(3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)
Three foot six inch	1,067 mm	(3 ft 6 in)
Four foot	1,219 mm	(4 ft)
Four foot six inch	1,372 mm	(4 ft 6 in)
1432 mm	1,432 mm	(4 ft 8+3⁄8 in)

Standard	1,435 mm	(4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)

Broad
Italian broad gauge	1,445 mm	(4 ft 8+7⁄8 in)
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)
1520 mm	1,520 mm	(4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Five foot	1,524 mm	(5 ft)
Pennsylvania gauge	1,581 mm	(5 ft 2+1⁄4 in)
Pennsylvania gauge	1,588 mm	(5 ft 2+1⁄2 in)
Five foot three inch	1,600 mm	(5 ft 3 in)
Baltimore gauge	1,638 mm	(5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Iberian gauge	1,668 mm	(5 ft 5+21⁄32 in)
Five foot six inch	1,676 mm	(5 ft 6 in)
Six foot	1,829 mm	(6 ft)
Brunel	2,140 mm	(7 ft 1⁄4 in)
Breitspurbahn	3,000 mm	(9 ft 101⁄8 in)

In South America, Argentina and Chile use 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) track gauge, as well as 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) or metre gauge.

Brazil uses 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (known as "Irish gauge", most common for passenger services and a few corridors in the Southeast) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) (known as "narrow gauge" or "metre gauge", most common for cargo services). Exceptions are the Estrada de Ferro do Amapá north of the Amazon River, which has 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) gauge, and the Lines 4 and 5 of São Paulo Metro, which also use standard gauge.

Argentina (partly), Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Peru use standard gauge. In the past a few lines in Northern Chile also had standard gauge, as the only international railway between Arica (Chile) and Tacna (Peru), slightly more than 60 km, uses standard gauge. The El Cerrejón Coal Railway in Colombia is also 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in).

There are and were also some lines using different narrow gauges; see Narrow-gauge railways in South America.

References

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v t e Track gauge in the Americas
Sovereign states	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago United States Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and territories	Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Falkland Islands French Guiana Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saba Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands
North America Central America Caribbean South America

See also

References