Track (rail transport)

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, British English) and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade. It enables trains to move by providing a dependable surface for their wheels to roll. For clarity it is often referred to as railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (predominantly in the United States). Tracks where electric trains or electric trams run are equipped with an electrification system such as an overhead electrical power line or an additional electrified rail.

The term permanent way also refers to the track in addition to lineside structures such as fences etc.

Structure

Traditional track structure

Notwithstanding modern technical developments, the overwhelmingly dominant track form worldwide consists of flat-bottom steel rails supported on timber or pre-stressed concrete sleepers, which are themselves laid on crushed stone ballast.

Latest News for: Rail power products

Edit

Flair Airlines selects Fox TMS by Comply365 to streamline operations

TravelDailyNews 09 Apr 2025
Comply365 provides a powerful combination of expertise and products underpinned by unified best practices, empowering its customers to elevate operational excellence, transform safety management and training management, with closer integration of relevant data sets across domains....
Edit

After Kimberly-Clark: Who’s using the former nonwovens plant in Neenah?

Post Crescent 08 Apr 2025
power access, rail sidings, and infrastructure available to scale up production ... Brown ramped up fabric production in the newly purchased Neenah facility in June 2020 to meet the soaring demand for N95 masks ... The Neenah facility had been instrumental in producing nonwoven fabrics for Kimberly-Clark’s baby and child care products....

Most Viewed

×