Railways
Railways have greater or lesser interoperability depending on conforming to standards of gauge, couplings, brakes, signalling, communications, loading gauge, operating rules, to mention a few parameters. North American railroads are highly interoperable, Europe, Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Australia much less so. The parameter most difficult to overcome (at reasonable cost) is incompatibility of gauge, though variable gauge axle systems such as the SUW 2000 are starting to come to the rescue.
Read more about this topic: Interoperability
Famous quotes containing the word railways:
“There is nothing in machinery, there is nothing in embankments and railways and iron bridges and engineering devices to oblige them to be ugly. Ugliness is the measure of imperfection.”
—H.G. (Herbert George)