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Finland announces migration of its rail network to international gauge

(yle.fi)
461 points axelfontaine | 1 comments | 20 May 25 07:40 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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blueflow ◴[20 May 25 08:56 UTC] No.44039357[source]▶
Get a look on the track topology on openrailwaymap:

https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=gauge&lat=62.774837258...

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reddalo ◴[20 May 25 09:01 UTC] No.44039396[source]▶
That's very interesting. I wonder why Spain is different than the rest of Europe, given it's connected by land.

It makes more sense for islands such as Ireland to retain their old gauge.

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1. aarroyoc ◴[20 May 25 09:54 UTC] No.44039715[source]▶
In addition to the other comment, which I agree as I've heard the same, for the most part Spain and Portugal have been operating as if the Iberian Peninsula was an island. The Pyrenees are a big barrier, and in Franco's era the country was very isolated.

The same happens with the electricity grid, even though it is connected to France, it has very small capacity.