Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846

The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846^[a] (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 81⁄2 inches to be the standard for Great Britain and 5 feet 3 inches to be the standard for Ireland.^[1][c]

Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846^[a]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act for regulating the Gauge of Railways.
Citation	9 & 10 Vict. c. 57
Territorial extent	England and Wales Scotland Ireland
Dates
Royal assent	18 August 1846 (1846-08-18)
Commencement	29 July 1859[b]
Repealed	29 July 1859
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1959
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Provisions

The act stipulated that:

...after the passing of this Act it shall not be lawful (except as herein-after excepted) to construct any Railway for the Conveyance of Passengers on any Gauge other than Four Foot Eight Inches and Half an Inch in Great Britain, and Five Feet Three Inches in Ireland...

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".^[1][d] The resulting isolation of these lines ultimately contributed to the demise of the Great Western Railway broad-gauge system.^{[citation needed]}

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The whole act was repealed by section 2 of, and the second schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. 2.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).

Notes

1. The citation of this act by this short title was authorised by section 1 of, and the first schedule to, the Short Titles Act 1896. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
2. Section 1.
3. The metric equivalents of the dimensions specified are 1435 and 1600 millimetres respectively.
4. Later, the distance between the rails was widened, for engineering reasons, to 7 ft 01⁄4, for which the metric equivalent is 2140 mm.