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Breaks of gauge’ in Australian railway history: the significance of standardisation in national infrastructures

Lee, Heejin, Liebenau, Jonathan and Fomin, Vladislav V. (2019) Breaks of gauge’ in Australian railway history: the significance of standardisation in national infrastructures. International Journal of Services and Standards, 13 (1-2). 46 - 58. ISSN 1740-8849

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Identification Number: 10.1504/IJSS.2019.104302

Abstract

Australia’s railway suffered from breaks of gauge from the beginning of the systems’ development in the 1850s and long after the foundation of the federation in 1901. The failure was caused by economic, social and political factors, and it brought significant consequences for each of those domains. While explaining the causes and impacts of breaks of gauge, we consider economic and technological factors in the development of the railway network. We suggest that economic considerations of Australian territories and the governance structure of the federation were the key factors causing the breaks of gauges. The consequences were significant for economic development and demonstrate the prominence of standardisation in the technological and economic development of national infrastructures. The lessons learned have implications for standardisation in developing national infrastructures.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: https://www.inderscience.com/jhome.php?jcode=ijss
Divisions: Management
Date Deposited: 20 Dec 2019 11:36
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2024 03:12
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/102973

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