What material is used for railway tracks?
Jan 21, 2026
Steel rail, also called rail track, steel track, is the main component of railway track. Its function is to guide the wheels of the locomotive, bear the great pressure of the wheel, and keep the stability of railway transportation. The rail must provide continuous, smooth and minimum rolling surfaces for the wheels. In electrified railway or automatic block section, rail can also be used as an orbital circuit.
What material is used for railway tracks?
Railway tracks are manufactured from medium-to-high carbon alloy steel, not from common structural steels like Q235B, because rails must resist surface wear and plastic deformation under concentrated wheel contact. Typical rail steels contain controlled levels of carbon and manganese, sometimes with vanadium or chromium, to improve hardness and fatigue resistance after hot rolling and controlled cooling.
| Rail Steel Category | Typical Grades | Common Rail Profiles |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Railway Steel | R260, 900A | UIC54, UIC60, 60E1 |
| High-Strength Railway Steel | R350HT, 1100 | 60E1, 132RE |
| Chinese Heavy Rail Steel | U71Mn, U75V | 50kg, 60kg, 75kg |
| Industrial Rail Steel | 55Q | 30kg, ASCE40 |
Chemical Composition of Rail Steel:
| Grade | Standard / Region | Typical Composition (wt%) |
| R260 | EN 13674-1 (Europe) | C: 0.67–0.80, Mn: 0.90–1.20, Si: ≤0.50 |
| R350HT | EN 13674-1 (Europe) | C: 0.75–0.85, Mn: 0.80–1.20, Cr: 0.20–0.50 |
| Grade 260 | AREMA (North America) | C: ~0.77, Mn: ~1.0–1.2, Si: ~0.2 |
| Grade 350 | AREMA + Mill Specs (USA/Canada) | C: 0.78–0.83, Mn: 0.90–1.20, Cr: 0.2–0.6, + V/Nb (microalloyed) |
| BH Rail (Bainitic) | JIS E 1101 (Japan), adopted in EU/India | C: 0.65–0.80, Mn: 1.0–1.4, Cr/Mo/Ni (optional, mill-specific) |
| U71Mn | GB/T 2585 (China) | C: 0.65–0.77, Mn: 1.10–1.40, Si: 0.15–0.35 |
| U75V | GB/T 2585 (China) | C: 0.67–0.77, Mn: 0.70–1.00, V: 0.04–0.12 |
While Q235B steel is widely used for baseplates, beams, and light transport rails, it is not suitable for high-speed or heavy-haul railway tracks due to insufficient surface hardness. This is why railway operators specify grades such as R260 or U71Mn, which are optimized for rolling contact conditions.
| Q235B(GB 22KG Light Steel Rail) | Mechanical property | Chemical composition(%) | |||||||||
| Yield strength | Tensile strength | Elongation | Hardness | C | Si | Mn | S | P | |||
| MPa | kg/mm² | MPa | kg/mm² | min | HB | ≤ | ≤ | ≤ | |||
| ≥ | ≥ | ||||||||||
| 235 | 24 | 375-460 | 38-47 | 26% | 0.12-0.22 | 0.35 | 0.30-0.70 | 0.045 | 0.045 | ||
Are the Same Materials Used for Crane Rails and Railway Rails?
Although both are steel rails, crane systems typically require different steel performance characteristics due to higher vertical wheel loads and lower travel speeds. Crane rails often use U71Mn or 50Mn steel combined with wide-base profiles for better load distribution on steel beams.
| Application | Rail Profiles | Typical Steel Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Railway Main Line | UIC60, 132RE | R260, R350HT |
| Yard & Industrial Transport | 60kg, CR100 | U71Mn |
| Port Crane Runways | QU80–QU120 | U71Mn |
| Steel Beam Crane Tracks | A75, A100 (DIN536) | 50Mn, U71Mn |
This is why projects such as container terminals often procure two material systems at once: high-fatigue railway rails for train movement and high-load crane rails for gantry operations, both supplied by GNEE RAIL with matched fastening and installation guidance.
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.
| Standard | Sepc. | Material Typical Grade |
| UIC860 | UIC54 | 700,900A,900B |
| UIC60 | ||
| EN13674.1 | 5.00E+02 | R200,R350HT,R260Mn,R35LHT,R320Cr,R370CrHT |
| 5.40E+02 | ||
| 6.00E+02 | ||
| 6.00E+03 | ||
| BS-11-1985 | BS80A | 700,900A,900B |
| BS90A | ||
| BS100A | ||
| AREMA | 115RE | SS,HH,LA,IH |
| 136RE | ||
| ASCE60 | U71Mn | |
| ASCE85 | U71Mn | |
| GB 2585-2007 | 50kg/m | U71Mn |
| 60kg/m | U75V | |
| 75kg/m | ||
| TB/T2344-2012 | 50kg/m | U71Mn,U75V,U77MnCr |
| 60kg/m | U78CrV | |
| 75kg/m | ||
| GB 11264-1989 | 8kg/m | Q235 |
| 12kg/m | Q235 | |
| 15kg/m | 55Q, Q235 | |
| 18kg/m | 55Q, Q235 | |
| 22kg/m | 55Q, Q235 | |
| 24kg/m | 55Q, Q235 | |
| 30kg/m | 55Q, Q235 | |
| 38kg/m | 50Mn, U71Mn | |
| 43kg/m | 50Mn, U71Mn | |
| GB Crane rails | QU70 | U71Mn |
| QU80 | U71Mn | |
| QU100 | U71Mn | |
| QU120 | U71Mn |
