View source for Track gauge in Ireland

{{Short description|Irish railway standard}}
{{Sidebar track gauge}}
The '''track gauge adopted by the mainline railways in [[Ireland]]''' is {{Track gauge|1600mm|lk=on}}. This unusually broad [[track gauge]] is otherwise found only in [[Australia]] (where it was introduced by the Irish railway engineer [[Francis Webb Sheilds|F. W. Sheilds]]), in the states of [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]], southern [[New South Wales]] (via some extensions of the Victorian rail network) and [[South Australia]], as well as in [[rail transport in Brazil|Brazil]].

The [[Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway]] used this gauge between 1840 and 1855<!-- not 1845 -->, as did the [[Canterbury Provincial Railways]] in [[New Zealand]], until [[Track gauge conversion|conversion]] to the {{Track gauge|1067mm|lk=on}} gauge in the 1860s.  The [[Launceston and Western Railway]] in [[Tasmania]] also used this gauge from 1871, until conversion to {{Track gauge|1067mm|lk=on}} gauge in 1888.

== Different gauges ==
[[Image:KilbrickenRailwayStn.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Irish gauge railway at Kilbricken on the Dublin-Cork railway line]]
[[Ireland]]'s first railway, the [[Dublin and Kingstown Railway|Dublin and Kingstown]], was built to {{Track gauge|1435mm}} (later known as [[standard gauge]]).  The [[Ulster Railway]] (UR), taking the Irish Railway Commission's advice, used {{Track gauge|1880mm}}.  The [[Dublin and Drogheda Railway]] was proposed to be built to {{Track gauge|5 ft 2 in|first=met}} gauge<ref>[http://www.askaboutireland.ie/reading-room/environment-geography/transport/0-Transport/steaming-into-the-future/ Steaming into the Future]</ref> 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 {{Track gauge|1600mm}}.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Craigavon Historical Society |volume= 2 |number=2 |title=Railways in Craigavon |first=Charles P. |last=Friel |url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/frielrailwayscraig.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512022203/http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/frielrailwayscraig.html |archive-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>

This gauge was given legal status by the [[Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846]],<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/HMG_Act_Reg1846.pdf| title=Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846| format=PDF }}</ref> which specified {{cvt|4|ft|8.5|in}} for Great Britain, 5{{nbsp}}ft 3{{nbsp}}in for Ireland.

The UR was [[Track gauge conversion|re-gauged]] in 1846, at a cost of £19,000 (about £{{inflation|UK|19000|1846|r=-3|fmt=c}} today), and the Dublin and Kingstown Railway in 1857 for £38,000 (about £{{inflation|UK|38000|1857|r=-3|fmt=c}} today).

The [[Hill of Howth Tramway]] and the [[Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway]] also adopted the {{Track gauge|1600mm}} gauge. Dublin's [[Luas]] tram system, opened in 2004, uses {{Track gauge|sg|allk=on}}.

== Narrow gauge ==
{{see also|List of narrow gauge railways in Ireland}}
Numerous [[Narrow-gauge railway|narrow-gauge]] systems were built, usually as [[three foot gauge railways]] ({{Track gauge|3ft|disp=or}}). 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 [[Heritage railways in the Republic of Ireland|the Republic]] and in [[Heritage railways in Northern Ireland|Northern Ireland]]. [[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.

== See also ==
* [[History of rail transport in Ireland]]
* [[Irish gauge]]
* [[List of narrow gauge railways in Ireland]]
* [[Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

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{{Navbox track gauge}}

[[Category:Track gauges by country|Ireland]]