The track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

is . This unusually broad

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...

is otherwise found only in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

(where it was introduced by the Irish railway engineer F. W. Sheilds), in the states of Victoria, southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

(via some extensions of the Victorian rail network) and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, as well as in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway used this gauge between 1840 and 1855, as did the Canterbury Provincial Railways in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, until

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

to the gauge in the 1860s. The Launceston and Western Railway in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

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 A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

). The Ulster Railway (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 use ...

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 The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

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 Vict. c. 57) or the Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 or the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that was designed to standardise railway track ...

, which specified for Great Britain, 5ft 3in for Ireland. The UR was re-gauged in 1846, 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 and the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway also adopted the gauge. Dublin's

Luas Luas (, Irish language, Irish: ; meaning 'speed') is a tram system in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. There are two main lines: the Green Line (Luas), Green Line, which began operating on 30 June 2004, and the Red Line (Luas), Red Line ...

tram system, opened in 2004, uses .

Narrow gauge

Numerous

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

systems were built, usually as three foot gauge railways (). 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 ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Bord na Móna Bord na Móna (; English: "The Peat Board") is a semi-state company in Ireland, created in 1946 by the Turf Development Act 1946. The company began developing the peatlands of Ireland with the aim to provide economic benefit for Irish Midland co ...

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 Lough Neagh ( ; ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake on the island of Ireland and in the British Isles. It has a surface area of and is about long and wide. According to Northern Ireland Water, it supplies 4 ...

in Northern Ireland, operated by the Sunshine Peat Company.

References

{{Navbox track gauge

Different gauges

Narrow gauge

See also

References