The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 57) or the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 or the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that was designed to standardise railway tracks. It was granted royal assent on 18 August 1846, and mandated that the track gauge – which was the distance between the two running rails' inner faces – of 4 feet 8 inches to be the standard for Great Britain and 5 feet 3 inches to be the standard for Ireland.Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 (PDF)
Provisions
The act stipulated that:
Assessment The act continued legislative approval of the broad-gauge railways constructed by the Great Western Railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and endorsed the construction of several new broad-gauge lines, but restricted them to the south-west of England and to Wales. The act stated that these railways "shall be constructed on the Gauge of Seven Feet". The resulting isolation of these lines ultimately contributed to the demise of the Great Western Railway broad-gauge system.
Subsequent developments The whole act was repealed by section 2 of, and the second schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. 2. c. 68), which came into force on 29 July 1959.
See also British Gauge War Track gauge in Ireland Standard gauge
Notes
References
External links Railways Archive entry for the act