What a Brunel broad-gauge victory could change

What if Brunel's seven-foot broad gauge had become Britain's standard railway gauge?

Railways could be faster and better for heavy freight, but they would require gentler curves and substantially more supporting infrastructure.

A broad-gauge British network would be expected to move trains faster and carry goods more effectively. The wider loading capacity could make later container traffic easier to accommodate. Its disadvantage is geometry: the trains would require shallower curves and therefore more land and civil engineering. George Stephenson's greater political effectiveness also meant engineering merit alone would not decide which gauge became standard. The counterfactual trades greater transport capacity for more demanding infrastructure and a different political victory at a substantial infrastructure cost.