Narrow-gauge railways in China
Open-knowledge reference entry
The gauge for most of the China national railway network is standard gauge. Currently, in the national railway network, only the 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge Kunming–Haiphong railway uses narrow gauge. In addition, there are some industrial lines still using narrow gauge, mostly 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow gauge or 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) narrow gauge. As of 2003, 600+ km narrow-gauge railways, 50000+ km standard gauge railways, and 9.4 km broad gauge railways were in use in mainland China.
Operational narrow-gauge railways
Kunming–Hekou Railway
The 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) metre gauge Kunming–Hekou railway (previously known as the "Sino-Vietnamese Railway") was part of the Kunming–Haiphong railway built by French colonists between Vietnam and China. Due to landslides and the opening of the new standard-gauge Kunming-Yuxi-Hekou railway, this meter-gauge line is now inoperative for passengers (except for a small section within Greater Kunming) but does have freight services.
This railway, opened in 1910, had a 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge branch line from Caoba to Shiping which operated 0-10-0 tender locos built by Baldwin Locomotive Works. This branch has been later converted to 1,000 mm gauge as well, and presently (2016) is used by tourist excursion trains around Jianshui
The meter gauge section was originally administered in more or less the same way as the Indochinese networks, and it was physically possible for through trains to be run from Kunming to Saigon, as meter gauge was used in both these countries. During the Japanese occupation Japanese National Railways Class 9600 2-8-0 locomotives were shipped to aid their invasion. After the completion of the "death railway" in Thailand, it would have been possible for a time for through traffic to Burma (if not for a gap between Saigon and Phnom Penh, in Cambodia).
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