Pre-construction decisions In 1845, a
Royal Commission on Railway Gauges in the United Kingdom was formed to report on the desirability for a uniform gauge. As a result, the
Regulating the Gauge of Railways Act 1846 was passed which prescribed the use of in England, Scotland and Wales (with the exception of the
Great Western Railway) and in Ireland. In 1846, Australian newspapers discussed the
break of gauge problem in the United Kingdom, especially for defence. In 1847, South Australia adopted the gauge as law. In 1848, the
Governor of New South Wales,
Charles Fitzroy, was advised by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies in London,
Earl Grey, that one uniform gauge should be adopted in Australia, this being the British standard gauge. The recommendation was adopted by the then three colonies. Grey noted in his letter that South Australia had already adopted this gauge. At this stage,
South Australia was no longer part of NSW, while Victoria and Queensland were still part of New South Wales. Since the
Australian Overland Telegraph Line and under-sea cable communications with England did not open until 1872, communications between Britain and Australia before then were hampered by having to be conducted via sailing ship. The journey varied from about seven months on slower ships to about two and a half months on fast clipper ships. This had particular consequences for the selection of railway gauge in Australia.
Origins of the gauge muddle At that time, the private
Sydney Railway Company had begun planning its railway line to
Parramatta. The chief engineer of the company was Irish-born
Francis Webb Sheilds. After his appointment in 1849, Sheilds initially stated a preference for but in 1850 he persuaded the company, which in turn asked the NSW legislature, to change to the Irish standard gauge of . This decision was endorsed by the NSW Governor, and Colonial Secretary Earl Grey in London agreed in 1851. However, Sheilds and his three subordinates resigned in December 1850 when the company cut their salaries for financial reasons. After the interim appointment of
Henry Mais in July 1852, the company selected a new Scottish engineer, James Wallace, who preferred the British standard gauge. The government was persuaded to make the change back to and in January 1853 they advised the company that the
Act requiring would be repealed. In February 1853, the other colonies (Victoria having separated from New South Wales in 1851) were sent a memorandum advising them of the pending change and recommended they likewise adopt . In Victoria, the memorandum was distributed to three railway companies and their responses were sought, with two replying and only one showing a distinct preference for . However, the
Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company asked for a determination from the government as it had prepared plans for both gauges and was due to send an order for locomotives and rolling stock to England by boat at the start of April. In reply at the end of March, the companies were told the colonial Victorian government preferred and the order was subsequently placed. In July 1853, the
Government of Victoria advised New South Wales that it would use the broader gauge and later appealed to the British Government to force a reversal of New South Wales' decision. Subsequently, the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company opened the first railway in Australia in 1854, as a broad gauge line, and the
South Australian Railways used the same gauge on its first steam-hauled railway in 1856. Despite a request by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies to reconsider this alteration, in 1855, the NSW Governor
William Denison gave the go-ahead for the
Sydney to Parramatta railway, which opened in September of that year. Concerns over the gauge difference began to be raised almost immediately. At a Select Committee called in Victoria in September 1853, a representative of the railway company which had not replied to
Charles La Trobe's earlier memorandum, reported a preference for , but when asked if Victoria should follow NSW he answered: "We must, I conclude of necessity, do so". In 1857, the NSW railway engineer
John Whitton suggested that the short length of railway then operating in New South Wales be altered from gauge to to conform with Victoria but, despite being supported by the NSW Railway Administration, he was ignored. At that time, there were only of track, four engines and assorted cars and wagons on the railway. However, by 1889, New South Wales, under engineer Whitton, had built almost 1,950 miles (3,500 km) of standard gauge line.
Extension of the gauge muddle The narrow gauge was introduced to Australia in 1865, when the
Queensland Railways opened its
first railway from
Ipswich to
Grandchester. The gauge was chosen on the supposition that it would be constructed more cheaply, faster and on tighter curves than the wider gauges. This was the first narrow gauge main line in the world.
South Australia first adopted this gauge in 1867 with its line from
Port Wakefield to
Hoyleton. The main reasons for choosing this were reduced cost, and the expectation that the narrow gauge would never connect to broad gauge lines. Overbuilt English railways were criticised. The Wakefield line was also envisaged as a horse-drawn tramway. Later narrow gauge lines went towards
Broken Hill and to
Oodnadatta and from
Mount Gambier. The
Port Lincoln system was always isolated by geography which went through non-paying desert. The
Western Australian Government Railways adopted it in 1879 for its
first line from
Geraldton to
Northampton. It was not until 1883 when the broad and standard gauge lines from
Melbourne and
Sydney met at
Albury, and in 1888, narrow and standard gauge from
Brisbane and Sydney met at
Wallangarra that the
break of gauge became an issue. The issue of rail gauge was mentioned in an 1889 military defence report authored by British army officer Major General
James Bevan Edwards, who said that the full benefit of the railways would not be attained until a uniform gauge was established. Until the turn of the 20th century, the benefits of a uniform gauge were not immediately apparent, since passengers had to pass through customs and immigration at the intercolonial border, meaning that all goods would have to be removed for customs inspection. It was only with
Federation in 1901 and its introduction of free trade between the states that the impediment of different gauges became apparent. ==Post Federation==