The track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

is . This unusually broad

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

is otherwise found only in Australia (where it was introduced by the Irish railway engineer F. W. Sheilds), in the states of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, southern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

(via some extensions of the Victorian rail network) and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, as well as in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The

Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway The Grand Duchy of Baden was an independent state in what is now southwestern Germany until the creation of the German Empire in 1871. It had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische ...

used this gauge between 1840 and 1855, as did the

Canterbury Provincial Railways The Canterbury Provincial Railways was an early part of the railways of New Zealand. Built by the Canterbury Provincial government mainly to the broad gauge of , the railway reached most of the Canterbury region by the time the province was abol ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, until

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to the gauge in the 1860s. The

Launceston and Western Railway The Tasmanian Government Railways (TGR) was the former operator of the mainline railways in Tasmania, Australia. Formed in 1872, the railway company was managed by the Government of Tasmania, and existed until absorption into the Australian Na ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

also used this gauge from 1871, until conversion to gauge in 1888.

Different gauges

's first railway, the Dublin and Kingstown, was built to (later known as standard gauge). The

Ulster Railway The Ulster Railway was a railway company operating in Ulster, Ireland. The company was incorporated in 1836 and merged with two other railway companies in 1876 to form the Great Northern Railway (Ireland). History The Ulster Railway was auth ...

(UR), taking the Irish Railway Commission's advice, used . The

Dublin and Drogheda Railway Dublin and Drogheda Railway (D&D) was a railway company in Ireland which publicly opened its 31¾ mile main line between Dublin and Drogheda in May 1844. It was the third railway company in Ireland to operate passenger trains and the first to us ...

was proposed to be built to gauge on the grounds of lower costs. The two broader gauges were not used anywhere else. Following complaints from the UR the Board of Trade investigated the matter, and in 1843 decreed the use of . This gauge was given legal status by the

Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vic. c.57) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that was designed to standardise railway tracks. It achieved royal assent on 18 August 1846, during the reign of Queen Victoria of ...

, which specified 4 feet inches for Great Britain, 5 feet 3 inches for Ireland. In 1846 the UR was re-gauged at a cost of £19,000 (about £ today) and the Dublin and Kingstown Railway in 1857 for £38,000 (about £ today). The

Hill of Howth Tramway The Howth Tram on the Hill of Howth Tramway was a tram which served Howth Head, near Dublin, Ireland. The termini were at Sutton railway station, by the entrance to the peninsula, and Howth railway station by the village and harbour of Howth. ...

and the

Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway The Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway (DBST), later the Blessington and Poulaphouca Steam Tramway, operated steam-powered trams between Terenure in Dublin and Blessington in Co. Wicklow from 1888 until 1932. History On Wednesday, August 1, 188 ...

adopted the gauge. Dublin's

Luas Luas (pronounced ; Irish for "speed") is a tram/ light rail system in Dublin, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line which opened on 26 September 2004. Since then, both li ...

tram system, opened in 2004, uses .

Narrow gauge

Numerous narrow-gauge systems were built, usually as

three foot gauge railways Three foot gauge railways have a track gauge of or 1 yard. This gauge is a narrow gauge and is generally found throughout North, Central, and South America. In Ireland, many secondary and industrial lines were built to gauge, and it is t ...

(). Most are now closed, including one of the largest narrow-gauge systems, that of the '' County Donegal Railways Joint Committee''. The Irish narrow gauge today survives as heritage railways in both the Republic and in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Bord na Móna uses narrow gauge in the Midlands bogs as part of its peat transport network. There is also a private peat railway on the southern shores of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, operated by the Sunshine Peat Company.

References

{{Navbox track gauge

Different gauges

Narrow gauge

See also

References