India's railway network operates on three different track gauges. Name all three gauges used in India and explain why operating multiple gauges creates a problem for the national railway network.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:34 · grounding rag
Model Answer
Three Gauges used in India:
- Broad Gauge – track width of 1.676 m
- Metre Gauge – track width of 1 m
- Narrow Gauge – track width of 0.762 m or 0.610 m
Problem: Operating multiple gauges creates a trans-shipment problem. When a train crosses from one gauge zone to another, goods and passengers must be unloaded and reloaded onto a different train. This causes delays, increases costs, and reduces the efficiency of the national railway network.
Source: Transport and Communication, Chapter 7
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Explanation
- The examiner expects all three gauges named (1 mark) with the specific widths being a bonus.
- The core problem to state is trans-shipment — goods/passengers cannot travel seamlessly across the whole network (2 marks for the explanation).
- The source passages confirm Broad Gauge = 1.676 m from the Quiz Drive clue; Metre and Narrow Gauge are standard NCERT textbook content from this chapter.
- Do not write a long essay — 3 marks = ~70 words is sufficient.