Measurement and Units
An 1845 Act of Parliament fixed British track gauges at 4 ft 8½ in and Irish track gauges at 5 ft 3 in. The 4 ft 8½ in gauge was the basis of 60% of the world's railways, but is expressed as 1435 mm (including the United Kingdom) - a decrease of 0.1 mm, but well within the engineering tolerances. The Irish 5 ft 3 in gauge is now referred to as a 1600 mm gauge – the difference between the metric and imperial values being 0.2 mm, again well within engineering tolerances.
Read more about this topic: Track Gauge
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