#6268
Gauge Change Train
🇯🇵 Japan ·built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries· experimental Japanese train class
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Free Gauge Train GCT-01 at kamogawa: Spaceaero2· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Gauge Change Train (GCT) (Japanese: フリーゲージトレイン; lit. 'Free Gauge Train') was a Japanese research and development project launched in 1994 to create a high-speed train equipped with variable-gauge axles, enabling through operation between the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge Shinkansen network and the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow-gauge conventional rail network. Three prototype electric multiple unit (EMU) trains—two three-car sets and one four-car set—were constructed for testing. The first operated from 1998 to 2006, the second from 2006 to 2014, and a third-generation train began testing in 2014; however, testing was later suspended due to technical issues with the bogies.
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 8 minutes.
- 23.1 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
high-speed train: Built for 200–350 km/h on dedicated lines, like the TGV, ICE or Shinkansen.
spec sheet
- built
- —
- number built
- 3
- kind
- high-speed train
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- builders
- Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kinki Sharyo, Japan Transport Engineering Company
- top speed
- 300 km/h
- power
- 190 kW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- Overhead line:, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
- formation
- 3-car set
- length
- 23.1 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q1331375, Wikipedia: Gauge Change Train (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.