Regulating_the_Gauge_of_Railways_Act_1846
Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846
Act of the UK Parliament that standardised railway gauges
The Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act 1846[1] (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 tracks. It achieved royal assent on 18 August 1846, during the reign of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It 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.[2][note 1]