4 Main Types of Railway Fastening
Sep 22, 2025
Railway fastenings are a crucial part of railroad track operation. They play a key role in fixing railroad rails to sleepers to ensuring safe and stability of running trains. When the train passes, the fastenings in the railway are subjected to powerful impact force and vibrations. What's more, they are facing the challenges of temperature change and corrosion.
Rail Elastic Clip
Rail Clip, also called rail clamp, welding clamp, which is a kind of fixed device and designed to fix heavy rail in the most arduous applications. The rail clips are usually welded on the steel I-beam, but sometimes also can be used in steel plates which embedded in concrete.
GNEE RAIL can provide you various kind of rail clips, which is widely applied in rail construction.
| E-type Clips | |||
| Model | Diameter | Material | Hardness |
| E1809 | ø20 | 60Si2MnA | 44-48 |
| E1813 | ø18 | 60Si2MnA | 44-48 |
| E2001 | ø20 | 60Si2MnA | 44-48 |
| E2039 | ø20 | 60Si2MnA | 60Si2MnA |
| E2055 | ø20 | 60Si2MnA | 60Si2MnA |
| SKL Tension clips | |||
| Model | Diameter | Material | Hardness |
| SKL1 | ø13 | 60Si3CrA | 42-47 |
| SKL3 | ø13 | 60Si3CrA | 42-47 |
| SKL12 | ø13 | 38Si7 | 42-47 |
| SKL14 | ø14 | 60Si2MnA | 42-47 |
| Other Rail Clips | |||||
| Model | Russia rail clip | Deenik clip | Anti-vandal clip | Fast clip GL1419 | GL1419 |
| Diameter | ø18 | ø25 | ø18 | ø15 | ø14 |
Railway Clamp
Rail clamps, similar to other track material "rail clips" or fixing clips, are designed to clamp on the tracks for preventing the movement of the railroad rail. Adjustable rail clamps allow necessary horizontal movement for the purpose of installation accuracy of different standard rails. The main application of rail clamps is for cranes. For the installation method, they can be divided into bolted rail clamps and welded rail clamps.
The most sold type is welded rail clamp composed of the cover plate, base plate, t bolt, nut, washer. the material of cover plate and base plate are ductile cast iron, cast steel. Bolt, nut, flat washer applied with Q235. Spring washer produced with 60Mn, 60si2Mn.
Rail Spike
A railway spike or a railroad spike is a large nail with an offset head that can hold rails and baseplate firmly to the tie (sleeper). It is a small component of the railway fastening system. On track material market, railway spikes have various types according to the structure and way of installation. The dog spikes and the screw spikes are two typical types. As to the making process, two ways are adopted. One is producing railway spikes by manual work. The other is a series of process such as forging, heat treatment and threading through machines.
Rail Fish Plate
Rail joints, usually called fish plate, commonly known as the joint bar, is a component that joint rails end-to-end. It is applied to light rail, heavy rail and crane rail. There are holes in the middle of the fish plate for rail bolt to screw. The top and bottom of the fish plate are made into slopes corresponding to the slope of the lower part of the railhead and the top part of the rail bottom. Thanks to the design which helps the joint bars wedge the rails, the rail joints can be bolted to the rail very tightly. Therefore, good rail joints can reduce the impact of wheels at the joint and improve the smoothness of the passing trains.
According to the raw materials used, rail joints can be divided into ductile iron, Q235 type, and Q255 rolling type, forging type, etc. In general, medium and high carbon steels are used as raw materials. According to different applications, rail joints can be divided into bolted rail joints, compromise rail joints and insulated rail joints.
Rail Joints for Sale from GNEE RAIL
- Rail joints for light rail: 8kg, 9kg, 12kg, 15kg, 18kg, 22kg, and 30kg.
- Rail joints for heavy rail: 43kg, 50kg, and 60kg.
- Rail joints for crane rail: QU70, QU80, QU100, and QU120.
