Track Gauge
The choice of future track gauges in Afghanistan presents several difficulties. Afghanistan is surrounded by three different kinds of gauge, and yet is almost completely without railways.
Until the 21st century, there were less than 25 kilometres of railway inside the country, all of which is built to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) Russian gauge. For strategic reasons, past Afghan governments preferred to discourage the construction of railways which could aid foreign interference in Afghanistan by Britain or Russia.
Iran to the west uses standard gauge, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in), as does China to the east; to the south, Pakistan uses 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) Indian gauge, while to the north, the central Asian republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan use 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in) gauge.
In 2010, the gauge question was resolved so that the internal network would be initially standard gauge: 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in).
Read more about this topic: Rail Transport In Afghanistan
Famous quotes containing the word track:
“It is remarkable how easily and insensibly we fall into a particular route, and make a beaten track for ourselves. I had not lived there a week before my feet wore a path from my door to the pond-side; and though it is five or six years since I trod it, it is still quite distinct. It is true, I fear, that others may have fallen into it, and so helped to keep it open.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)