The Railway Commissioners of the Board of Trade now on 8 February 1848 gave their decision on the gauge of the TVER: it was to be on the broad gauge, because of the dominance of the broad gauge on the main lines in the area: the B&ER and the South Devon Railway, open from Exeter to Totnes, and building on to Plymouth. The decision only applied to the TVER: the section from Crediton to Barnstaple. The E&CR and the original Taw Vale line to Bideford had been authorised without the requirement to get Board of Trade approval for their gauge.