Question

Broad gauge, meter gauge, narrow gauge indicate-
(A) Berth of ships in a port
(B) Depth of water approaching a sea port
(C) Cargo terminals at airport
(D) Width between the tracks of a railway line

Answer 1

Hint: Railway track gauge. The apparent minimum vertical distance between the inner sides of two tracks is called a railway gauge. There are 4 types of railway gauges used in India. Broad gauge, meter gauge, narrow gauge and standard gauge (for Delhi Metro). About sixty percent of the World’s railways use standard gauges of 1,435mm.

Complete step by step answer
Broad Gauge: Broad gauge is also called wide gauge or big line. The distance between the two tracks in these railway gauges is 1.676m. The first railway line built in India was the broad gauge line from Bori Bunder (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus)to Thane in 1853. Broad gauge railways are also used at ports for cranes etc. This gives better stability and at the same time, they are much better than thin gauges.

Meter Gauge: The distance between these two tracks is 1m. All meter gauge lines will be converted to broad gauge under Project Unigauge except the Nilgiris Mountain Railway which is heritage Meter gauge lines were built to reduce costs.
Narrow Gauge: A narrow gauge is a railroad track in which the distance between two-track is 0.762m and 0.61mm.Small gauge is called narrow gauge or short line.
Gauge influencing factors:

Traffic conditions: If there is a possibility of high traffic intensity on the track then broad gauge would be suitable instead of standard gauge.
Development of poor areas: Narrow gauge have been installed in some parts of the world to develop a poor region, and thus the poor region has been linked to the Train.
Speed: The speed of a train is a function of the diameter of the wheel which in turn is limited by the gauge.

Track cost: The cost of a railway track is directly proportional to the width of its gauge.If the available funds are not sufficient to make a standard gauge and there is no railway line in that area, a meter gauge or narrow gauge is preferred.

So the correct answer is an option (D): Width between the tracks of a railway line. Broad gauge, meter gauge, narrow-gauge indicate Width between the tracks of a railway line.




Note: India Railways is the second-largest rail network in the world, which transports about 25 million passengers daily. Abbreviations BG- Broad Gauge, MG-Meter Gauge, NG-Narrow Gauge.