A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as a train track or permanent way (often "perway" in Australia), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting … See more

Traditional track structure
Traditionally, tracks are constructed using flat-bottomed steel rails laid on and spiked or screwed into … See more

The rails used in rail transport are produced in sections of fixed length. Rail lengths are made as long as possible, as the joints between … See more

A sleeper (tie or crosstie) is a rectangular object on which the rails are supported and fixed. The sleeper has two main roles: to transfer the loads from the rails to the track ballast and the ground underneath, and to hold the rails to the correct width apart (to maintain the See more

The first railway in Britain was the Wollaton Wagonway, built in 1603 between Wollaton and Strelley in Nottinghamshire. It used wooden rails and was the first of … See more

Modern track typically uses hot-rolled steel with a profile of an asymmetrical rounded I-beam. Unlike some other uses of iron and steel, railway rails are subject to very high stresses and … See more

Rails are produced in fixed lengths and need to be joined end-to-end to make a continuous surface on which trains may run. The traditional method of joining the rails is to bolt them … See more