AMJ Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 In various places in Europe different countries run on either left or right on double tracks. At Aachen trains from Brussels switch from left to right. On a trip from Paris to Mulhouse there is a flyover. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Patrick SPF Posted October 20, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 20, 2014 Sweden drive on the left Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwffc Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I think Sweden runs on the left( was 2004 last time I was on a train there) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 France also has right-hand running on the former Alsace-Lorraine lines and the Paris Metro. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 The Poles drive on the right, but with the amount or work going on out there now they take whichever side is open. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted October 21, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2014 Sweden drive on the left Not since about 1965! I remember being there in 1975. Some of the older buses in country areas were still right-hand drive so passengers had to get on and off in the middle of the road. Not a very safe arrangement! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted October 21, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 21, 2014 Spain has right hand running on its double track lines. So there is a flyover on the Perpignan - Figueres high-speed line. I have an idea that the Metro in Barcelona varies from line to line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted October 21, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2014 Most of the former Austro-Hungarian empire use left hand running. This is a legacy of when this was the rule on public roads. The change to the roads was made when Hitler annexed/invaded those countrys in the late thirties. The Alsace-Loraine lines were mostly built when the area was under German control from 1870 hence the right hand running. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Not since about 1965! I remember being there in 1975. Some of the older buses in country areas were still right-hand drive so passengers had to get on and off in the middle of the road. Not a very safe arrangement! Later than that! I drove there in my RHD Ford Zodiac from Gothenburg to Stockholm switching over at the border from right to left of the road. Incidentally, US trains run on the right! Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Of course, I meant Oslo, not Gothenburg which I left from to come home. Age does this to you!! Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Patrick SPF Posted October 21, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 21, 2014 Sweden changed the side of the road you drive on from left to right on 3rd September 1967, the railways stayed on the left. Patrick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pH Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Incidentally, US trains run on the right!Not everywhere, and not always. The most famous example was the Chicago and North Western, which ran left-handed. Nobody seems absolutely sure why, but the explanation I've seen most often involves the location of existing stations when its mainline was doubled. I believe Union Pacific still run left-handed in ex-C&NW areas. There was also left-handed running on significant parts (several hundred miles) of the Santa Fe mainline across New Mexico, Arizona and California.That happened because, when the line was doubled, the new line, with easier eastbound grades, was built to the north of the existing line. However, with tracks now signalled for bi-directional running, it means either track can be used in either direction (obviously!), so there is now no need to enforce left-hand running in these areas. Bi-directional signalling on other lines also means that trains can now be seen running left-handed in areas where they had previously always run on the right. (Edit - I should sort out eastbound and westbound!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted October 22, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2014 Sweden changed the side of the road you drive on from left to right on 3rd September 1967, the railways stayed on the left. Patrick I knew that it was about then because I remember it happening while I was at boarding school and listening to the radio reports. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted October 22, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 22, 2014 Not everywhere, and not always. The most famous example was the Chicago and North Western, which ran left-handed. Nobody seems absolutely sure why, but the explanation I've seen most often involves the location of existing stations when its mainline was doubled. I believe Union Pacific still run left-handed in ex-C&NW areas. There was also left-handed running on significant parts (several hundred miles) of the Santa Fe mainline across New Mexico, Arizona and California.That happened because, when the line was doubled, the new line, with easier eastbound grades, was built to the north of the existing line. However, with tracks now signalled for bi-directional running, it means either track can be used in either direction (obviously!), so there is now no need to enforce left-hand running in these areas. Bi-directional signalling on other lines also means that trains can now be seen running left-handed in areas where they had previously always run on the right. (Edit - I should sort out eastbound and westbound!) Last weekend some one asked why we were running on the worng side on Santa Barbara till I mentioned that the lines are bi directional (really a very long passing loop). Some times the platform furthest from the station building gets used even if nothing is on the other line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Not everywhere, and not always. The most famous example was the Chicago and North Western, which ran left-handed. Nobody seems absolutely sure why, but the explanation I've seen most often involves the location of existing stations when its mainline was doubled. I believe Union Pacific still run left-handed in ex-C&NW areas. There was also left-handed running on significant parts (several hundred miles) of the Santa Fe mainline across New Mexico, Arizona and California.That happened because, when the line was doubled, the new line, with easier eastbound grades, was built to the north of the existing line. However, with tracks now signalled for bi-directional running, it means either track can be used in either direction (obviously!), so there is now no need to enforce left-hand running in these areas. Bi-directional signalling on other lines also means that trains can now be seen running left-handed in areas where they had previously always run on the right. (Edit - I should sort out eastbound and westbound!) Of course, your are right! C & NW was the odd one and ran on the right and its been said that this was because of financing by British banking interests. Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestPines Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 My memory of visiting Copenhagen is that Danish trains run on the right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzie Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 I have just been told that Luxemburg has some left and some right, lines are bidirectionally signalled but most is right hand running (including to Germany and the Lorraine region of France) with left hand running on lines to Belgium only. Old signals were on the 'outside' but new signals are all on the right, even on lines with left hand running. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derekl Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Spain - some lines were built by British contractors, some by German: those that were built by the British are left had running, those by the Germans right hand. I don't know which was which, though. My recollection is that Madrid - Seville was on the left. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Spain - some lines were built by British contractors, some by German: those that were built by the British are left had running, those by the Germans right hand. I don't know which was which, though. My recollection is that Madrid - Seville was on the left. Didn't the same thing happen in Argentina with the British influence on the railways? Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 In Malta they drive in the shade! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted November 2, 2014 Share Posted November 2, 2014 Hi, I can't verify the accuracy, but some interesting history here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic If you know some of it to be wrong, then you can update it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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