The standard gauge (also named the Stephenson gauge after George Stephenson, or normal gauge) is a widely-used track gauge. Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge (see the list of countries that use the standard gauge). Except for Russia and Finland, all high-speed lines have been built to this gauge.
The distance between the inside edges of the rails of standard gauge track is usually called 1,435 mm but in the United States it is still called 4 ft 8½ in.
Read more about Standard Gauge: History, Road Vehicles, Installations
Famous quotes containing the word standard:
“This unlettered man’s speaking and writing are standard English. Some words and phrases deemed vulgarisms and Americanisms before, he has made standard American; such as “It will pay.” It suggests that the one great rule of composition—and if I were a professor of rhetoric I should insist on this—is, to speak the truth. This first, this second, this third; pebbles in your mouth or not. This demands earnestness and manhood chiefly.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)