1846 in rail transport

This article lists events related to rail transport that occurred in 1846.

• January 9 – Barentin Viaduct on the Paris–Le Havre railway collapses soon after its completion by English engineers.^[1]
• January 13 – Opening of the Milan–Venice railway's 3.2 km (2.0 mi) bridge over the Venetian Lagoon between Mestre and Venice in Italy.^[2][3]

• March 26 – John M. Forbes becomes president of the Michigan Central Railroad.^[4]

• June 14 – The first Gare du Nord station in Paris, France, is opened.
• June 20 – The Paris–Lille railway is opened in France.
• June 22 – The North British Railway is opened to public traffic between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the first line to cross the border between Scotland and England. Waverley Station is opened.^[5]
• June 26 – The Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) is authorised by Act of Parliament with powers to construct a direct line from London to York with a loop via Boston, 233.5 mi (375.8 km) with a capital of £5,600,000, the largest single scheme ever approved by Parliament.^{[6][page needed]}

• July 1 – The Leeds and Bradford Railway opens between Leeds and Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
• July 15 – The first railway line in Hungary opens between Pest and Vác.
• July 16 – The London and North Western Railway is formed in England by amalgamation of the London and Birmingham Railway, Grand Junction Railway and Manchester and Birmingham Railway.^[7]

• August 11 – First section of Furness Railway in England opens to mineral traffic; passengers are first carried on December 1.^[8]
• August 18 – Gauge Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom^[9] rules that new railways in Great Britain should be built to standard gauge and 5 ft 3 inches in Ireland unless otherwise authorised.
• August 28 – Railway Mania reaches its zenith as the Parliament of the United Kingdom closes its session having passed 272 Acts setting up new railway companies.^[10]

• September 21 – The town of Kendal, England, declares a public holiday for the opening of the Kendal, Oxenholme and Lancaster section of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway; the first revenue trains are operated on September 22.^[11]
• September 28 – The East Lancashire Railway opens to the public from Clifton Junction to Rawtenstall in England.

• November 10 – Portland Company established by John A. Poor and Septimus Norris of the Norris Locomotive Works.^[12]

• December 17 – The Lancaster and Carlisle Railway is opened throughout to Carlisle.

• April 13 – Lucius E. Johnson, president of the Norfolk and Western Railroad 1904–1921 (d. 1921).

• October 6 – George Westinghouse, American inventor; developed the Westinghouse air brake (d. 1914).