What is a railway track called?
Jan 22, 2026
steel rail is a heat-treated pearlitic or alloy steel product designed to balance surface hardness with internal toughness, allowing it to resist wear, rolling contact fatigue, and impact loading. Metallurgical cleanliness and controlled cooling processes play a decisive role in long-term rail performance. These factors are particularly important in heavy-duty crane tracks and port logistics systems.
GNEE RAIL not only supplies rails in multiple steel grades such as 900A, 1100, R260, R350HT, and U71Mn, but also provides material selection support based on wheel load, duty cycle, and environmental exposure.
What is a railway track called?
A railway track is commonly called a "rail track" or simply "track", and it refers to the complete structure that guides and supports trains or rail-guided vehicles. In engineering terms, a railway track is more than just the steel rails; it is a system composed of multiple components working together to provide safe, smooth, and durable train movement.
The main components of a railway track include:
- Rails – The steel bars that form the running surface for train wheels. They carry the load and guide the vehicles along a fixed path.
- Sleepers (Ties) – Horizontal supports (wood, concrete, or steel) that hold the rails at the correct gauge and transfer loads to the foundation.
- Fastening Systems – Clips, bolts, or base plates that secure the rails to the sleepers while allowing some elastic movement.
- Rail Pads – Placed between rails and sleepers to reduce vibration and distribute stress.
- Ballast or Foundation – Crushed stone or other material that supports sleepers, provides drainage, and maintains track alignment.
In industrial settings, such as crane rails, the "track" may also include base plates, embedded foundations, and specially aligned rails, but the principle is the same: rails + support + fasteners = track system.
What is the role of rails in railway tracks?
The role of rails in railway tracks is to provide a continuous, smooth, low-friction surface for trains to run on, guide wheels laterally, and efficiently transfer heavy loads from the wheels to the sleepers and ballast below, while withstanding immense vertical and lateral forces from moving trains. They form the essential pathway, ensuring efficient movement, guidance, and load distribution for safe and stable railway operation.
Key Functions of Rails:
Guidance: Rails act as a guiding surface, keeping the train wheels on the intended path.
Load Distribution: They transfer the enormous weight and forces from the train (vertical, braking, thermal) to the sleepers, which then spread the load to the ballast and formation.
Smooth Movement: Their hard, smooth steel surface creates very low friction with steel wheels, enabling efficient, energy-saving travel.
Structural Support: Rails provide strength and durability to the track structure, allowing it to bear stresses without breaking or deforming excessively.
Foundation: They form the fundamental running surface upon which the entire rail vehicle system operates.
Steel Rail Types
The type of rail is classified by kilograms per meter of rail length. For example, steel rails used in China's railways are 75kg/m, 60kg/m, 50kg/m, 43kg/m and 38kg/m.
- Classified by Application: GNEE RAIL supplies crane rail( QU120,QU100,QU80,QU70), heavy rail( 38, 43, 50, 60, 75kg) and light rail( 9,12,15,22,30kg/m).
| Classification | Height(mm) | Head (mm) | Bottom (mm) | Thick(mm) | Weight (kg/m) | |
| Light Rail | 8 KG/M | 65 | 25 | 54 | 7 | 8.42 |
| 9 KG/M | 63.5 | 32.1 | 63.5 | 5.9 | 8.94 | |
| 12 KG/M | 69.85 | 38.1 | 69.85 | 7.54 | 12.2 | |
| 15 KG/M | 79.37 | 42.86 | 79.37 | 8.33 | 15.2 | |
| 18 KG/M | 80 | 40 | 80 | 10 | 18.06 | |
| 22 KG/M | 93.66 | 50.8 | 93.66 | 10.72 | 22.3 | |
| 24 KG/M | 107 | 51 | 90 | 10.9 | 24.46 | |
| 30 KG/M | 107.95 | 60.33 | 107.95 | 12.3 | 30.1 | |
| Heavy Rail | 38 KG/M | 134 | 68 | 114 | 13 | 38.733 |
| 43 KG/M | 140 | 70 | 114 | 14.5 | 44.653 | |
| 45 KG/M | 145 | 67 | 126 | 14.5 | 45.546 | |
| 50 KG/M | 152 | 70 | 132 | 15.5 | 51.514 | |
| 60 KG/M | 176 | 73 | 150 | 16.5 | 60.64 | |
| Crane Rail | QU 70 | 120 | 70 | 120 | 28 | 52.8 |
| QU 80 | 130 | 80 | 130 | 32 | 63.69 | |
| QU 100 | 150 | 100 | 150 | 38 | 88.96 | |
| QU 120 | 170 | 120 | 170 | 44 | 118.1 | |
- Stee rail in foreign standards: British Standard: BS series (90A, 80A, 75A, 75R, 60A, etc.) German standard: DIN series crane rails. International Railway Union: UIC series. American Standard: ASCE series. Japanese standard: JIS series.
As a professional rail fastener supplier, GNEE RAIL can provide different standard steel rail such as GB,American, BS, UIC, DIN, JIS, Australian and South Africa which used in railway lines, cranes and coal mining.
