Trivia: Railway lines in other countries with more than four tracks.

[busestrains]

In the UK we have at least five lines which have more than four tracks:

• 6 Track - Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace
• 6 Track - Finchley Road to Harrow On The Hill
• 6 Track - London Euston to Watford Junction
• 6 Track - London St Pancras to Mill Hill Broadway
• 8 Track - London Waterloo to Clapham Junction

My question is are there any lines in other countries anywhere around the world with more than four tracks? I would be interested to hear of any examples of other lines like this around the world?

Also i am not counting short little sections outside of stations. I know lots of stations have a short section of more than four tracks as you approach the station. So it must be a proper length section of line with more than four tracks.

 

[StephenHunter]

Munich: Pasing to Hauptbahnhof.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

In Germany, officially each line has 2 tracks maximum, but of course there are places where there are several lines next to each other. I'm thinking right now of the section between Düsseldorf Hbf and Düsseldorf Flughafen, which has six tracks plus sidings.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

The UK also has five tracks between East Croydon and South Croydon.

What about the section between Brussels Midi and Nord? - from memory that is six or maybe more.

 

[Taunton]

Sydney Central to Strathfield, the main western approach, 6 track. First couple of miles out to beyond Redfern is 8 track. May be the only one in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[Beebman]

Melbourne, Australia (which I visited last month) has 12 tracks over a 1.5 km distance from Flinders Street Station to Richmond Junction, then 10 from there for another km to Richmond Station. There's a good aerial view of the tracks threading their way between the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Rod Laver Arena (home of the Australian Open Tennis) at the following link (Flinders Street is visible at the top):

https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...-arena-melbourne-royalty-free-image/128098503

Track plan (scroll down halfway down the page): https://vicsig.net/infrastructure/line/lilydale

 

[Railsigns]

Cape Town to Salt River (approx. 4 km) has a minimum of six tracks.

 

[rvdborgt]

What about the section between Brussels Midi and Nord? - from memory that is six or maybe more.

Correct, 6 tracks on line 0. Between North and Schaarbeek, it's 9 tracks, although those are separate lines formally.

 

[Bemined]

Rotterdam Stadion - Kijfhoek is pretty wide, although the number of tracks changes all the time so it's hard to count how many there are exactly. The longest continuous section would be the Barendrecht tunnel with 9 tracks that run parallel for about 3 kilometres until they split, the 2 high speed line tracks diverse then and the 3 freight train tracks split up into the big train yard but there are 2 continuous tracks for non-stopping freight trains. So I would say that there are at least 6 through tracks over an 11km distance here, which is extended to 9 through tracks for 3 kilometres.

 

[DanielB]

Utrecht Central to Utrecht Vaartsche Rijn has 8 tracks, though those actually are four sets of two tracks running side by side. The Sprinter and IC corridors towards Arnhem and 's-Hertogenbosch run parallel there, but are essentially running as separate lines with limited connections between them.
Something similar between Amsterdam Muiderpoort and Amsterdam Central where the six tracks are three sets of two running parallel (2 from Utrecht, 2 from Weesp and 2 from Watergraafsmeer yard).

 

[OVS Flatbottom]

In Paris:

Gare de Lyon to Le Vert-de-Maisons, 6 tracks for about 8 km
Gare St-Lazare to Asnières-sur-Seine, 10 tracks for about 4 km
Gare du Nord to St.-Denis, 5 tracks (I think) for about 6 km
Gare de l'Est to Noisy-le-Sec, 6 tracks for about 9 km

I believe Zürich has about 5 km of 5 or more tracks from Hbf out to near Mülligen, but it's possible that not all of these are running lines.

 

[eddp]

Depending on exactly how you are defining this, there are six tracks between Madrid-Atocha and Madrid-Chamartín:

• Two Iberian-gauge on the original Túnel de la Risa via Recoletos
• Two Iberian-gauge on the newer Túnel de la Risa via Sol
• Two standard-gauge on the recently-opened high speed line (no intermediate stations)

And for another "stretching the definition" example in Spain, outside Barcelona-Sants for about 800m (does this count as "a short stretch outside a station"?) there are six tracks, all Iberian-gauge: two for the Adif line via L'Hospitalet, two for the Adif line via Bellvitge and two for Barcelona metro line L1 (there are also two standard gauge tracks but I think it's pushing it a bit far to count those here). There used to be an additional track for the Airport shuttle but with the building of the high-speed line the previous 5-track railway was reduced to 4 and the airport shuttle moved to the "normal" Bellvitge tracks.

 

[Austriantrain]

In Vienna, between Hauptbahnhof and Meidling six tracks. In reality, there are several tracks more, but those are part of the depot.

 

[30907]

Working to a more precise definition that the section must have 2 or more stations (not necessarily with platforms on all tracks) :

Germany: Koeln Hansaring-Hbf-Messe/Deutz is 8 then 6.

Zürich Hbf has more than 4 running lines out to ZH-Altstetten.

St Pancras-Mill Hill should be West Hampstead to Silkstream Jn only (5-6).
London Br-New Cross would be 5 as would (stretching a point or two) Victoria to Clapham High St.

I've used OpenRailwayMap to check stuff - very useful.

 

[43096]

• 8 Track - London Waterloo to Clapham Junction

It's actually 7 track between Nine Elms Jct and the junction beyond Queenstown Road.

 

[etr221]

The other thing to clarify is what is meant by 'line' - what is the difference between one (multi track) line, and two (fewer track) lines alongside each other?

So - going back to the initial examples quoted - I would classify Finchley Road - Harrow-on-the-Hill as two lines (one LUL, ex Metropolitan Rly [and arguably South of Wembley Park the Jubilee and Met lines are now separate lines, as (AIUI) they can no longer be used interchangeably] , the other NR, ex LNER/GCR), also I would regard the Watford New/DC line as being separate from the ex LNWR main lines (with AC electrification).

 

[D6130]

In Italy, Roma Bivio Portinaccio-Roma Tiburtina-Roma Smistamento Yard (South end) - six or eight tracks (approximately 7 km).
Roma Ostiense Bivio Est-Roma Trastevere - six tracks (approximately 2 km).
Bologna Bivio Santa Viola (junction for Poretta Terme)-Bologna Centrale East End - at least six tracks (approximately 3 km).
Firenze Santa Maria Novella-Firenze Rifredi (junction for Pisa line) - five or six tracks (approximately 3.5 km)
Milano Certosa-Rho Fiera (junction with high speed line) - six tracks (approximately 6 km).
Bivio Trecca-Milano Rogoredo-Bivio San Donato - six or eight tracks (approximately 6 km).
Milano Bivio Lambro-Segrate - six tracks (approximately 4 km).
Torino Porta Nuova-Torino Lingotto - six or eight tracks (approximately 4.5 km).

(Acknowledging information from the Scheers & Wall Rail Atlas of Italy and Slovenia)

 

[Springs Branch]

The Long Island Rail Road in New York has a couple of its busiest sections in Queens with 6 running lines in parallel:-

• From Winfield Junction (where two tracks from the Port Washington branch join the 4-track LIRR main line west of Jamaica), through Woodside station to the East River Tunnel portals. Four tracks go under the East River to NY Penn, two tracks continue to Long Island City.
• Eastwards from Jamaica for a distance until the two track West Hempstead / Babylon lines diverge from the 4-track main line near the LIRR Hillside Maintenance Facility.

In the UK list, there's also:- 6 Track - London Liverpool Street to Bethnal Green.

Surely there must be some examples in Japan, particularly Tokyo / Osaka?

 

[Tester]

The Long Island Rail Road in New York has a couple of its busiest sections in Queens with 6 running lines in parallel:-

• From Winfield Junction (where two tracks from the Port Washington branch join the 4-track LIRR main line west of Jamaica), through Woodside station to the East River Tunnel portal. Four tracks go under the East River to NY Penn, two tracks continue to Long Island City.
• Eastwards from Jamaica for a distance until the two track West Hempstead / Babylon lines diverge from the 4-track main line.

In the UK list, there's also:- 6 Track - London Liverpool Street to Bethnal Green.

Surely there must be some examples in Japan, particularly Tokyo / Osaka?

Too numerous to mention in Japan!

One memorable section for me was through Tsurumi in the Tokyo suburbs, with a level crossing over eleven tracks. When I was working there in 2005 and 2006 I spent many an evening watching the action and counting the number of trains between road openings. Mind bogglingly amazing!

Link to track plan

The level crossing is closed now - hardly a surprise!

 

[Northumbriana]

In Paris:

Gare de Lyon to Le Vert-de-Maisons, 6 tracks for about 8 km
Gare St-Lazare to Asnières-sur-Seine, 10 tracks for about 4 km
Gare du Nord to St.-Denis, 5 tracks (I think) for about 6 km
Gare de l'Est to Noisy-le-Sec, 6 tracks for about 9 km

I believe Zürich has about 5 km of 5 or more tracks from Hbf out to near Mülligen, but it's possible that not all of these are running lines.

Aren't there 14 tracks out of Paris Gare du Nord? I wonder where they all go?

Six into Gare de Lyon from where the newer LGV merges. Eight from Est?

 

[rf_ioliver]

Helsinki-Pasila has 11, after that it splits to 2 4-track sections east and north with lines to the Pasila depot
Käpylä-Oulunkylä is 5 tracks as is Tikkurila-Hiekaharju briefly
Savio-Kerava is also 5 tracks

I guess the 5 track sections are pushing your criteria a bit maybe...

 

[XAM2175]

Melbourne, Australia (which I visited last month) has 12 tracks over a 1.5 km distance from Flinders Street Station to Richmond Junction, then 10 from there for another km to Richmond Station.

From Richmond, six of those 10 tracks then run for another 1.6 km to South Yarra.

VICSIG

vicsig.net

 

[OVS Flatbottom]

Aren't there 14 tracks out of Paris Gare du Nord? I wonder where they all go?

Six into Gare de Lyon from where the newer LGV merges. Eight from Est?

The SNCF map I was working from (2017) has eight out of Nord, splitting into five towards St.-Denis and four towards Mitry-Claye. However, I noticed that the most recent version of the map (https://www.sncf-reseau.com/sites/default/files/2020-06/CARTE RFN 2020_WEB_0.pdf) has six, splitting into six and five. A quick look at OpenRailMap suggests there are actually at least 13 running lines from the station to the divergence.

The SNCF map has six from Est to Noisy-le-Sec, but ORM suggests at least seven.

 

[Gostav]

Too numerous to mention in Japan!

One memorable section for me was through Tsurumi in the Tokyo suburbs, with a level crossing over eleven tracks. When I was working there in 2005 and 2006 I spent many an evening watching the action and counting the number of trains between road openings. Mind bogglingly amazing!

Link to track plan

The level crossing is closed now - hardly a surprise!

This video about JR route history shows the multiple track sections in the Tokyo wards.

 

[OVS Flatbottom]

The Long Island Rail Road in New York has a couple of its busiest sections in Queens with 6 running lines in parallel:-

• From Winfield Junction (where two tracks from the Port Washington branch join the 4-track LIRR main line west of Jamaica), through Woodside station to the East River Tunnel portals. Four tracks go under the East River to NY Penn, two tracks continue to Long Island City.
• Eastwards from Jamaica for a distance until the two track West Hempstead / Babylon lines diverge from the 4-track main line near the LIRR Hillside Maintenance Facility.

Also in the New York region, the Northeast Corridor has six from south of Elizabeth, NJ (I think the precise spot may be known as Elmora Interlocking), for about 8 km through Linden and Rahway stations to Perth Amboy Junction.

 

[MarcVD]

In Belgium, there are also 6 tracks between Antwerpen Berchem and Antwerpen Central. With the very unique peculiarity that they all start from the same level at Antwerpen Berchem, but end up at 3 different levels in Antwerpen Central. 2 of them continue further north, the 4 others terminate in Central.

I believe there are also 6 tracks in Germany between Köln Hbf and Köln Deutz, notably on the bridge over the Rhine River, that also has a foot/cycle path which offers a very good view on the constant parade of trains going over there...

 

[Northumbriana]

In Belgium, there are also 6 tracks between Antwerpen Berchem and Antwerpen Central. With the very unique peculiarity that they all start from the same level at Antwerpen Berchem, but end up at 3 different levels in Antwerpen Central. 2 of them continue further north, the 4 others terminate in Central.View attachment 125391

I believe there are also 6 tracks in Germany between Köln Hbf and Köln Deutz, notably on the bridge over the Rhine River, that also has a foot/cycle path which offers a very good view on the constant parade of trains going over there...

What website is that from please?

 

[rvdborgt]

What website is that from please?

It looks like one of the maps from Infrabel's network statement.

 

[dutchflyer]

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Phillippines does not have any, nor probably the newly built line in Laos.
In NL there are as such 6 tracks (quite a rarity in this country) between Amsterdam CS and Sloterdijk, but effectively 3x2 for the lines to Haarlem and Zaan and north of that toward Schiphol, which crosses and sits above the 2 others at Sloterdijk.
Schiphol-Hoofddorp may have it, but then 2 are more for the trains going to the yards just south of H´drp. Not really sure about that.
Also -but just from memory, perhaps a short stretch south of Utrecht CS till Vaartse Rijn-2 for the Arnhem line and 4 on the line south toward den Bosch.

 

[stuu]

Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Phillippines does not have any, nor probably the newly built line in Laos.

In Thailand the section from Bang Sue to Don Muang has 6 tracks, with 4 elevated and 2 at ground level.