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"Track gauge" is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. Standard gauge with a distance of 1 435 mm is the most widely used track gauge around the world, making up roughly 55% of all tracks.
While sometimes a historical or pragmatic choice, building new tracks with a specific track gauge can also be a political matter.
The baltic countries #Estonia, #Latvia, and #Lithuania are shifting
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from the so-called "Russian gauge" (1 520 mm), which is widely used in Russia, to Standard gauge, the most common gauge in Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard-gauge_railway
https://www.railway-technology.com/features/baltics-shift-to-european-gauge-future-rail-101-out-now/?cf-view
#RailwaySunday #RailBaltica #Europe #Asia #Russia #geopolitics #TrackGauge #gauge #trains #railways
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@vermeer Thanks for the input, and sorry for the confusion. Yeah, the linked article is not clear about that (and other articles as well).
That said, the new track gauge and with it the integration into Europe's railway infrastructure is political, regardless whether it's a conplete shift or not.
@erhardt dude. This topic is more complex than this. I live in the Baltics. They are not shifting, they are trying to build a north south connection from Talinn via Pärnu, Riga Airport, Kaunas and then through the Suwalki gap towards Warsaw. This connection will be standard gauge. The rest of the Baltic network stays in Russian Gauge. Fyi you can also regauge a train see Spain and Talgo #RailBaltica #TrackGauge #gauge