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Bristol's confidence in Brunel led to his appointment in 1833 (at age 26) as engineer to the Great Western Railway (GWR), covering the 118 miles between Bristol and London.  The first major railway in the world, and the largest engineering project Britain had as yet attempted, GWR consumed Brunel’s  phenomenal energy for 15 years. The result was a high speed network in south-west England that became a model copied all over Europe and the world.  It cut the travel time from 4 days to 4 1/2 hours. In 1849 Brunel introduced the express train, which  made the 194 mile run from London to Exeter (with three stops) at the astonishing speed of 43 mph.

Bristol's confidence in Brunel led to his appointment in 1833 (at age 26) as engineer to the Great Western Railway (GWR), covering the 118 miles between Bristol and London.  The first major railway in the world, and the largest engineering project Britain had as yet attempted, GWR consumed Brunel’s  phenomenal energy for 15 years. The result was a high speed network in south-west England that became a model copied all over Europe and the world.  It cut the travel time from 4 days to 4 1/2 hours. In 1849 Brunel introduced the express train, which  made the 194 mile run from London to Exeter (with three stops) at the astonishing speed of 43 mph.

<!--[[Image:Saltash.jpg|thumb|375px|Royal Albert bridge at Saltash, England, under construction in 1858; Brunel designed a combination of arch and suspension bridge with two spans of 455 feet each; it cost £225,000 and opened in May 1859.]]-->

[[Image:Saltash.jpg|thumb|300px|Royal Albert bridge at Saltash, England, under construction in 1858; Brunel designed a combination of arch and suspension bridge with two spans of 455 feet each; it cost £225,000 and opened in May 1859.]]

Brunel set the standard for a very-well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimize grades and curves. That necessitated expensive construction techniques and new bridges and viaducts, and the famous two-mile-long  "Box Tunnel." His assistant Daniel Gooch designed the locomotives.  One controversial feature was the wide gauge (7 feet, instead of the normal 4'8.5"), which added to passenger comfort but made construction much more expensive and caused difficulties when eventually it had to interconnect with other railways using standard gauge; after its death the gauge was changed to standard.

Brunel set the standard for a very-well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimize grades and curves. That necessitated expensive construction techniques and new bridges and viaducts, and the famous two-mile-long  "Box Tunnel." His assistant Daniel Gooch designed the locomotives.  One controversial feature was the wide gauge (7 feet, instead of the normal 4'8.5"), which added to passenger comfort but made construction much more expensive and caused difficulties when eventually it had to interconnect with other railways using standard gauge; after its death the gauge was changed to standard.