4 ms·
> Was there a comparable large scale rail infrastructure change in some other country? There were a number of gauge changes, but they were usually quite early
by rsynnott 1y ago
> Was there a comparable large scale rail infrastructure change in some other country?
There were a number of gauge changes, but they were usually quite early on, when the infra was less critical and you could get away with closing lines for months. I'm not sure that there's a real 20th century example, beyond standard gauge high speed alongside non-standard normal-speed (for instance see Spain, and likely soon Ireland).
- padjo 1y agoWhat leads you to believe Ireland will introduce standard gauge?
- rsynnott 1y agoIf the proposed Cork-Dublin-Belfast high speed line (the 300km/h one, not to be confused with Irish Rail's _other_ more short-term project to bring Dublin-Cork to 200km/h standard, which will use the existing line) goes ahead, it'll almost certainly be a new standard gauge line, separate from the existing ones. Huge 'if', of course.
- marcthe12 1y agoIndia had a meter gauge to broad gauge but India was always a mix and India did a very slow transition to standardize on broad gauge which kinda smoothen stuff quiet a bit
- iggldiggl 1y ago> There were a number of gauge changes, but they were usually quite early on, when the infra was less critical and you could get away with closing lines for months. It was also a time when railways used wooden sleepers, so you could simply drill new holes at the new track gauge for moving the rail fasteners, thereby minimising the work required for changing the gauge, at least on the plain line, switches and crossings excepted. Plus it was a time when a lot more manpower for that kind of massive manual work was available, plus railways were the dominant transport mode and could actually commandeer that kind of manpower.