The Royal Commission on Railway Gauges was held in the United Kingdom in 1845 to choose between the

Broad Gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...

of the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

and its allies, and the so-called

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

used by most of the rest of the country. The situation in Ireland where there were three gauges was also considered. Following the Royal Commission in August 1846 the Gauge Act was passed which mandated all new railways be constructed to in England, Scotland and Wales, and to in Ireland. The

was allowed to continue with .

Narrow gauges

Really narrow gauges such as of the

Ffestiniog Railway The Ffestiniog Railway ( cy, Rheilffordd Ffestiniog) is a heritage railway based on narrow-gauge, located in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a major tourist attraction located mainly within the Snowdonia National Park. The railway is roughly long a ...

appear to have been overlooked. in Unlike Italy and France, which regulated the choice of narrow gauge gauges, Britain did not, which resulted in a large number of narrow gauges, including: * – earliest use in 1836. * – 1879 * – 1859 * – 1884 * – 1873 * – 1863 * Several other rarely used gauges

References

1845 in the United Kingdom British Royal Commissions {{UK-rail-transport-stub

Narrow gauges

See also

References