Are Russian train tracks different?

Railway track gauge ( mm)

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A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in). The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe,[1][2][3][4][5] and SGR in East Africa. It is the most widely used track gauge around the world, with about 55% of the lines in the world using it.

All high-speed rail lines use standard gauge except those in Russia, Finland, Uzbekistan, and some line sections in Spain.[6] The distance between the inside edges of the rails is defined to be 1,435 mm except in the United States, Canada, and on some heritage British lines, where it is defined in U.S. customary/Imperial units as exactly "four feet eight and one half inches",[7] which is equivalent to 1,435.1 mm.

History

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As railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge (the distance, or width, between the inner sides of the rails) to be used. Different railways used different gauges, and where rails of different gauge met &#; a "gauge break" &#; loads had to be unloaded from one set of rail cars and reloaded onto another, a time-consuming and expensive process. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a "standard gauge" of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in), allowing interconnectivity and interoperability.

Origins

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A popular legend that has circulated since at least [8] traces the origin of the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) gauge even further back than the coalfields of northern England, pointing to the evidence of rutted roads marked by chariot wheels dating from the Roman Empire.[a][9] Snopes categorised this legend as "false", but commented that it "is perhaps more fairly labeled as 'Partly true, but for trivial and unremarkable reasons.'"[10] The historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles around 5 ft (1,524 mm) apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts.[10] Research, however, has been undertaken to support the hypothesis that "the origin of the standard gauge of the railway might result from an interval of wheel ruts of prehistoric ancient carriages".[11][better source needed]

In addition, while road-travelling vehicles are typically measured from the outermost portions of the wheel rims, it became apparent that for vehicles travelling on rails, having main wheel flanges that fit inside the rails is better, thus the minimum distance between the wheels (and, by extension, the inside faces of the rail heads) was the important one.

A standard gauge for horse railways never existed, but rough groupings were used; in the north of England none was less than 4 ft (1,219 mm). Wylam colliery's system, built before , was 5 ft (1,524 mm), as was John Blenkinsop's Middleton Railway; the old 4 ft (1,219 mm) plateway was relaid to 5 ft (1,524 mm) so that Blenkinsop's engine could be used. Others were 4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm) (in Beamish) or 4 ft 7+1&#;2 in (1,410 mm) (in Bigges Main (in Wallsend), Kenton, and Coxlodge).[13]

English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, and used it on his Killingworth line. The Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge.

Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington railway (S&DR) was built primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. Opening in , the initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons[14] that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made, debuting around , to the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) gauge.[page needed] The historic Mount Washington Cog Railway, the world's first mountain-climbing rack railway, is still in operation in the 21st century, and has used the earlier 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) gauge since its inauguration in .

George Stephenson introduced the 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) gauge (including a belated extra 1&#;2 in (13 mm) of free movement to reduce binding on curves ) for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in and opened 30 September . The extra half inch was not regarded at first as very significant, and some early trains ran on both gauges daily without compromising safety.[17]

The success of this project led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Thus the 4 ft 8+1&#;2 in (1,435 mm) gauge became widespread and dominant in Britain. Robert was reported to have said that if he had had a second chance to choose a gauge, he would have chosen one wider than 4 ft 8+1&#;2 in (1,435 mm).[18][19] "I would take a few inches more, but a very few".[20]

During the "gauge war" with the Great Western Railway, standard gauge was called "narrow gauge", in contrast to the Great Western's 7 ft 1&#;4 in (2,140 mm) broad gauge. The modern use of the term "narrow gauge" for gauges less than standard did not arise for many years, until the first such locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Ffestiniog Railway, was built.[citation needed]

Adoption

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In , in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a Royal Commission on Railway Gauges reported in favour of a standard gauge. The subsequent Gauge Act ruled that new passenger-carrying railways in Great Britain should be built to a standard gauge of 4 ft 8+1&#;2 in (1,435 mm), and those in Ireland to a new standard gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). In Great Britain, Stephenson's gauge was chosen on the grounds that existing lines of this gauge were eight times longer than those of the rival 7 ft or 2,134 mm (later 7 ft 1&#;4 in or 2,140 mm) gauge adopted principally by the Great Western Railway. It allowed the broad-gauge companies in Great Britain to continue with their tracks and expand their networks within the "Limits of Deviation" and the exceptions defined in the Act.

After an intervening period of mixed-gauge operation (tracks were laid with three rails), the Great Western Railway finally completed the conversion of its network to standard gauge in . In North East England, some early lines in colliery (coal mining) areas were 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm), while in Scotland some early lines were 4 ft 6 in (1,372 mm). The British gauges converged starting from as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. By the s, the entire network was converted to standard gauge.

The Royal Commission made no comment about small lines narrower than standard gauge (to be called "narrow gauge"), such as the Ffestiniog Railway. Thus it permitted a future multiplicity of narrow gauges in the UK. It also made no comments about future gauges in British colonies, which allowed various gauges to be adopted across the colonies.

Parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. The American gauges converged, as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent. Notably, all the 5 ft (1,524 mm) broad gauge track in the South was converted to "almost standard" gauge 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) over the course of two days beginning on 31 May .[21] See Track gauge in the United States.

In continental Europe, France and Belgium adopted a 1,500 mm (4 ft 11+1&#;16 in) gauge (measured between the midpoints of each rail's profile) for their early railways.[22] The gauge between the interior edges of the rails (the measurement adopted from ) differed slightly between countries, and even between networks within a country (for example, 1,440 mm or 4 ft 8+11&#;16 in to 1,445 mm or 4 ft 8+7&#;8 in in France). The first tracks in Austria and in the Netherlands had other gauges (1,000 mm or 3 ft 3+3&#;8 in in Austria for the Donau Moldau line and 1,945 mm or 6 ft 4+9&#;16 in in the Netherlands for the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij), but for interoperability reasons (the first rail service between Paris and Berlin began in , first Chaix timetable) Germany adopted standard gauges, as did most other European countries.

The modern method of measuring rail gauge was agreed in the first Berne rail convention of .[23]

Early railways by gauge

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Non-standard gauge

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Almost standard gauge

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Standard gauge

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Small deviations from standard gauge

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Dual gauge

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Initially standard gauge

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Several lines were initially built as standard gauge but were later converted to another gauge for cost or for compatibility reasons.[citation needed]

• South Africa became

  1,067 mm

  (

  3 ft 6 in

  )
• Thailand became

  1,000 mm

  (

  3 ft 

  3

  +

  3

  &#;

  8

   in
  )
• Indonesia became

  1,067 mm

  (

  3 ft 6 in

  )
• Ireland became

  1,600 mm

  (

  5 ft 3 in

  ) &#; Dublin and Kingstown Railway
• Australia became

  1,600 mm

  (

  5 ft 3 in

  ) &#; Victoria & South Australia &#; partly converted to

  1,435 mm

  (

  4 ft 

  8

  +

  1

  &#;

  2

   in
  )
• India became

  1,676 mm

  (

  5 ft 6 in

  ) &#; initial freight lines
• some private Japanese railways

Modern almost standard gauge railways

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Railways

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Non-rail use

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Several states in the United States had laws requiring road vehicles to have a consistent gauge to allow them to follow ruts in the road. Those gauges were similar to railway standard gauge.[62]

See also

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Notes

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References

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Bibliography

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Railway track gauge

Railways with a railway track gauge of 5 ft (1,524 mm) first appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States. This gauge became commonly known as "Russian gauge", because the government of the Russian Empire chose it in . Former areas and states of the Empire have inherited this standard.[1] However in , Soviet Railways re-defined the gauge as 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27&#;32 in).[2]

With about 225,000 km (140,000 mi) of track, 1,520 mm is the second-most common gauge in the world, after 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) standard gauge.[3]

History

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Great Britain,

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In , the Wylam waggonway was built to a 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge for the shipment of coal from Wylam to Lemington down the River Tyne.[4]

In , the Eastern Counties Railway was constructed. In , the Northern and Eastern Railway was built. In , both lines were converted to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) standard gauge. In , the East Hill Cliff Railway, a funicular, was opened.

United States,

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5 ft

(

1,524 mm

) gauge rail network in the Southern United States ()

In , Horatio Allen, the chief engineer of the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, prescribed the usage of 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge. Many other railroads in the Southern United States adopted this gauge. The presence of several distinct gauges was a major disadvantage to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. In , when around 11,500 miles (18,500 km) of 5 ft gauge track existed in the United States, almost all of the railroads using that gauge were converted to 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm), the gauge then used by the Pennsylvania Railroad.[5]

Russian Empire,

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In , the first railway built in Russia was a 6 ft (1,829 mm) gauge, 17 km long experimental line connecting Saint Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk. The choice of gauge was influenced by Brunel's Great Western Railway which used 7 ft (2,134 mm). The Tsarskoye Selo railway's success proved that a larger gauge could be viable for railways isolated from the extant 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) gauge Western European network.[6][7]

In , work started on the second railway in the Russian Empire, the Warsaw&#;Vienna railway in Congress Poland. It was a 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) standard gauge, with the express intention of allowing through-freight trains into Austria-Hungary.[6][7]

The modern Russian railway network solidified around the Saint Petersburg&#;Moscow railway, built in . There, the Tsar established a committee to recommend technical standards for the building of Russia's first major railway. The team included devotees of Franz Anton von Gerstner, who pushed to continue the Tsarskoye Selo gauge, and engineer Pavel Melnikov and his consultant George Washington Whistler, a prominent American railway engineer. Whistler recommended 5 ft (1,524 mm) on the basis that it was cheaper to construct than 6 ft (1,829 mm) and cheaper to maintain than 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in). His advice won over the Tsar.[6][7]

At the time, questions of continuity with the European network did not arise. By the time difficulties arose in connecting the Prussian railroads to the Russian ones in Warsaw in the s, it was too late to change.[6]

A persistent myth holds that Imperial Russia chose a gauge broader than standard gauge for military reasons, namely to prevent potential invaders from using the rail system.[8] The Russian military recognized as early as that operations to disrupt railway track did not depend on the gauge, and should instead focus on destroying bridges and tunnels.[6][7] However, in both World Wars the break of gauge did pose some amount of obstacle to the invading Germans.

Expansion

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The 5-foot gauge became the standard in the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union.

Russian engineers used it on the Chinese Eastern Railway, built in the closing years of the 19th century across the Northeastern China entry to provide a shortcut for the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vladivostok. The railway's southern branch, from Harbin via Changchun to Lüshun, used Russian gauge. As a result of the Russo-Japanese War of -, its southernmost section from Changchun to Lüshun was lost to the Japanese, who promptly regauged it to standard gauge, after using the narrow 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) for a short time during the war.[9] This formed a break of gauge between Changchun and Kuancheng, the station just to the north of Changchun, still in Russian hands,[10] until the rest of the former Chinese Eastern Railway was converted to standard gauge, probably in the s.

Unlike in South Manchuria, the Soviet Union's reconquest of southern Sakhalin from Japan did not result in regauging of the railway system. Southern Sakhalin has continued with the original Japanese 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge simultaneously with the Russian gauge railway, constructed in the northern part of the island in - (Moskalvo-Okha). The railway has no fixed connection with the mainland. Before , rail cars coming from the mainland port of Vanino on the Vanino-Kholmsk train ferry, operating since , had to have their bogies changed in the Sakhalin port of Kholmsk.[11] In and plans were put forward to convert it to the Russian gauge. The conversion was completed in .[12]

There were proposals in for north-south and east-west lines in Afghanistan, with construction to start in .[13]

Panama,

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For more information, please visit Russion Standard Rails.

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The Panama Canal Railway, first constructed in ca. , was built in 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge. During canal construction (&#;), this same gauge was chosen for both construction traffic, canal operating services along the quays, and the newly routed commercial cross-isthmus railway. In the gauge for the commercial parallel railway was changed to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) to use standard gauge equipment. The original gauge was chosen under the influence of the pre-conversion southern United States railway companies. The electric manoeuvering locomotives along the locks (mules) still use the 5 ft gauge that was laid during canal construction.

Finland,

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The first rail line in Finland was opened in January . As Finland was then the Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state ruled in personal union by Imperial Russia where railways were also built to the (5 ft) broad track gauge of 1,524 mm (5 ft).[14] However the railway systems were not connected until the bridge over the River Neva was built in .[15] Russian trains could not have run on Finnish tracks, because the Finnish loading gauge was narrower, until the connection was made and the Finnish structure gauge was widened.

Technical

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Redefinitions

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In the late s the gauge was redefined to 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27&#;32 in) in the Soviet Union.[3] At the same time the tolerances were tightened. As the running gear (wheelsets) of the rolling stock remained unaltered, the result was an increased speed and stability.[14] The conversion took place between and the beginning of the s.[14]

In Finland, the Finnish State Railways kept the original definition of 1,524 mm (5 ft), even though they also have tightened the tolerances in a similar way, but to a higher level.

After its independence from the Soviet Union in , Estonia redefined its track gauge to 1,524 mm, to match Finland's gauge.[16] The redefinition did not mean that all the railways in Estonia were changed immediately. It was more a rule change, so that all renovated old tracks and new railways would be constructed in 1,524 mm gauge from then on. (See Track gauge in Estonia.)

Tolerances

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Finland allows its gauge to be 1,520&#;1,529 mm on first class lines (classes 1AA and 1A, speed 220&#;160 km/h).[17]

If the rolling stock's tolerance is kept within certain limits, through running between 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27&#;32 in) railways and Finnish 1,524 mm (5 ft) railways is allowed. Since both 1,520 and 1,524 mm tolerances overlap, the difference is negligible. The international high-speed Allegro's gauge between Helsinki and St. Petersburg was specified as 1,522 mm.[18]

Loading gauge

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The loading gauge, which defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads, is larger for Russian gauge. This means that if a standard gauge railway, in Europe, is adapted for dual gauge, bridges must be rebuilt, double tracks must be placed further apart and the overhead wire must be raised. Or there must be restrictions on permitted rolling stock, which would restrict the benefit of such a railway. Dual gauge needs more width than single gauge. For double stacking on Russian gauge tracks, maximum height shall be 6.15 or 6.4 m (20 ft 2 in or 21 ft 0 in) above rails.

For standard gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in). For Indian gauge railways, double stacking maximum height shall be 7.1 m (23 ft 4 in), and minimum overhead wiring height shall be 6.5 or 6.75 m (21 ft 4 in or 22 ft 2 in) above rails. Minimum overhead wiring height for double stacking, standard gauge railways shall be 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in), and Indian gauge railways shall be 7.45 m (24 ft 5 in) above rails, respectively. This would apply to Russia and Europe (or North America), rather than to Russia and China (or Iran).

Current status

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Primary usage

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The primary countries currently using the gauge of 5 ft or 1,520 mm, include:[19]

Extended usage

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Short sections of Russian or 5 ft gauge extend into Poland, eastern Slovakia, Sweden (at the Finnish border at Haparanda), and northern Afghanistan.[20]

There is an approximately 150 km long section in Hungary in the Záhony logistics area close to the Ukrainian border.[21]

Following renovations in , a 32 km section of dual Standard/Russian gauge was installed between Tumangang and Rajin stations in North Korea.[22]

The most western 1,520 mm gauge railway is the Polish LHS (Linia Hutnicza Szerokotorowa) from the Ukrainian border to the eastern end of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region.

Use in rapid transit and light rail systems

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Although broad gauge is quite rare on lighter railways and street tramways worldwide, almost all tramways in the former USSR are broad gauge (according to terminology in use in these countries, gauges narrower than 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27&#;32 in) are considered to be narrow). Many tramway networks initially built to narrow gauges (750 mm or 2 ft 5+1&#;2 in or 1,000 mm or 3 ft 3+3&#;8 in metre gauge) were converted to broad gauge. As of , only a few out of more than sixty tram systems in Russia are not broad gauge: 1,000 mm in Kaliningrad and Pyatigorsk, 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in) in Rostov-on-Don. There are two tram systems in and around Yevpatoria that use 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3&#;8 in) gauge.[note 1]

Finland's Helsinki trams and Latvia's Liepāja trams use 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3&#;8 in). Estonia's Tallinn trams use similar 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in). Warsaw's tramway system, constructed with  mm gauge, was regauged to  mm during post-WWII reconstruction.[23] Tampere tramway, built in , uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1&#;2 in).

Underground urban rapid transit systems in the former USSR, like the Moscow Metro, Saint Petersburg Metro, Kyiv Metro and Yerevan Metro use Russian gauge (1,520 mm). Outside the former USSR, the Helsinki Metro in Finland that utilizes a unique track gauge of 1,522 mm, falls between the Russian gauge (1,520 mm) and broad gauge 1,524 mm.

Similar gauges

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Mixed between 1,524 mm (5 ft) and another similar gauge, result the bonus gauge is

7 ft

(

2,134 mm

) (Brunel gauge).

These gauges cannot make 3-rail dual gauge with Russian gauge.

• 1,676 mm

  (

  5 ft 6 in

  ) Indian gauge

• 1,668 mm

  (

  5 ft 

  5

  +

  21

  &#;

  32

   in
  ) Iberian gauge

• 1,600 mm

  (

  5 ft 3 in

  ) Irish gauge

• 1,435 mm

  (

  4 ft 

  8

  +

  1

  &#;

  2

   in
  ) standard gauge

These gauges are within tolerance.

• 1,520 mm

  (

  4 ft 

  11

  +

  27

  &#;

  32

   in
  )

  Russian gauge

• 1,522 mm

  (

  4 ft 

  11

  +

  29

  &#;

  32

   in
  ) as used by Helsinki Metro

  [

  24

  ]

• 1,524 mm

  (

  5 ft

  )

Dual gauge between Russian gauge and another similar gauge can make these bonus gauges.

• 1,829 mm

  (

  6 ft

  )

• 1,945 mm

  (

  6 ft 

  4

  +

  9

  &#;

  16

   in
  )

• 2,134 mm

  (

  7 ft

  )

• 2,140 mm

  (

  7 ft 

  1

  &#;

  4

   in
  ) (Brunel gauge)
• 2,503 mm (8 ft 

  2

  +

  1

  &#;

  2

   in) (the maximum bonus gauge from the

  1,435 mm

  (

  4 ft 

  8

  +

  1

  &#;

  2

   in
  ) standard gaugegauntlet tracks).

Summary

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Railways using 1,524 mm gauge

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Railways using 1,520 mm gauge

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See also

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Notes

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References

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