how come train cars are not wider than 10 feet?

Question

Trains should be wider for more comfort. How come they are not 11 or 12 feet wide?

Answer 1

There has to standardisation for loading gauges on railways so that all trains fit all tunnels, all trains pass one another safely without coming into contact, and so that they stop in the right places relative to station platforms.



Just think about the practicalities. One train that is wider than the rest means that every tunnel has to be made larger and every double track has to be widened.

Answer 2

For historical reasons. The public railway and the steam locomotive were invented here in the UK in the 1820s. Most railways initially used George Stephenson's 4-ft 8.1/2-inch track gauge, which was roughly the distance between the wheels on horse-drawn vehicles of the period, and this became the 'Standard' gauge in the UK and most of the rest of the World in the 1840s.



Locomotives, carriages and wagons were relatively small at this time, so the railways were laid out to suit, the tracks on double-tracked lines being spaced around eleven feet between centres on straight track, with about six-feet clearance between the track centre and structures - bridges, tunnels, buildings, signals etc. - at the sides. The minimum headroom above the track was around 13-feet, which meant that the locomotives could have tall chimneys to keep the smoke well above the train, the carriages of these early trains being only about ten feet high from the rails.



Railways exploded all over the UK and it was quickly realised that wider and higher trains could run on the standard gauge but - even by the 1850s - it would have been enormously expensive to widen the track-bed, alter structures, bridges and tunnels, station platforms etc. to suit.



Railways quickly caught on in the rest of the World, and based upon progress made in the UK, and the fact that they started later, most foreign railways allowed a larger clearance above the track, and a wider spacing between multiple tracks, enabling their locomotives and rolling stock to be a little larger than the in the UK. This was particularly the case in North America, which was mostly virgin territory, with practically no roads to pass under and cheap - or even free - land. The N. American loading gauge is one of the most generous in the World as a result. Even so, the differences are not that great: the maximum height (on non-electrified lines) in Europe is 14 feet, and 15-ft 6-ins in N America, and the respective maximum train widths are 10-ft 4-ins and 10-ft 9-ins. The figures for the UK are 13-feet and 9-ft 3-ins.



However, even if trains were made wider, you could bet your bottom dollar that the railways and railroads would use the extra width to add another seat!

Answer 3

Because the tracks aren't far enough apart, so the trains that are on adjacent tracks would hit each other. (Passenger trains mostly operate on tracks that were built for freight trains, and it isn't cost effective to move them.)

Answer 4

It's a noise abatement issue. If train cars were 12 feet wide they would make one hell of a noise when they went by one another.